Naruto, Time Sage
by jbriz
Summary: It was a bloodline thought lost in the ages, shrouded in legends, last seen in the early days of the Rikudou Sennin. However, it never disappeared. Instead, for 1000 years, the bloodline laid dormant throughout the generations...until it's awakening. Armed with the power to shake the very foundations of the universe, this is the tale of Uzumaki Naruto, Time Sage.
1. Prologue

_**Naruto, Time Sage**_

_**Prologue: Strange Visions**_

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Naruto**

**Author Note: Well, here's another idea that I've had brewing for some time now. Here's the prologue to start things off.**

**Summary:** It was a bloodline thought lost in the ages, and shrouded in legends, last seen in the early days of the Rikudou Sennin. However, it never disappeared. Instead, for over a millennia, the bloodline laid dormant throughout the generations. Over 1000 years since its disappearance, an ancient ability with the power to shake the very foundations of universe has awaken…within a 12 year-old boy, with a strong dream to make himself known in the history books as the greatest Hokage ever. This is the tale of Naruto, the Time Sage as he learns to control and master the very power that was believed only to exist in the legends.

Eventual Strong (possibly God-like) Naruto. Good-Sasuke and potentially Rinnegan-Sasuke. Pairings undecided yet.

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Normal

_Thought/flashback/vision_

Technique

**Demonic speech/Boss Summon ****speech**

_**Demonic thought/Boss Summon thought**_

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"_Good morning class, welcome to what will hopefully be your final day as a student here in the academy," called a scar-faced chunnin instructor, standing in the front of the room. "As you are all aware, today is the graduation exam and should you pass, you will be honored with the privilege of becoming one of this village's fine shinobi."_

"_Now, the graduation exam is divided into five parts. First there is a written portion of the test, then a taijutsu portion, physical portion, a weapons portion, and finally a ninjutsu portion," explained the instructor. _

'_Okay, I can definitely do this. I'll pass this time for sure and then I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage, -ttebayo!' thought an excited blond-haired student wearing an almost blinding orange jumpsuit. _

_First up was the written portion of the exam. When instructed the blonde turned over the papers and began reading through the questions._

_First question…Name three of the village's four Hokages._

'_This will be easy. Let's see, there's the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama. Then there's the Nidaime, Senju Tobirama. And let's not forget Jiji,' thought the blonde as he wrote down the answer to the first question. _

_Second question…What is chakra._

_The blonde wrote down what would been an incomplete, yet acceptable answer for the questions and went on to answer the remaining 8 questions before time was up. Confident that he had aced the written portion, the blonde scribbled his name, Uzumaki Naruto, atop the paper and handed it to the white-haired instructor at the front of the room and left to head outside for the weapons, taijutsu, and physical portions. _

_Unbeknownst to everyone, as they had all left, the white-haired man made a quick hand sign and the questions on Naruto's test suddenly rearranged themselves, the answers remaining where they were originally. A sinister grin plastered his face and thanks to a simple genjutsu he had placed on the blonde student's test, Naruto had just bombed the written portion of the graduation test._

_Outside, the students were given the taijutsu portion of the test. For this, they had to last at least three minutes in a spar against one of the instructors. Any longer and they would earn a few bonus points. Student's names were called and one by one, each student sparred against the white-haired instructor. Some students, such as Inuzuka Kiba and even Hyuga Hinata did rater well in the taijutsu portion as they both came from clans where taijutsu was heavily emphasized. There was even a raven-haired student, who managed to last five minutes, the most anyone could achieve. This student was Uchiha Sasuke, the prodigy and current Top of the Class. Others, like Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru barely passed. The Aburame clan's styles disregarded most taijutsu and Shikamaru really didn't care all that much. He found this whole test troublesome. _

'_Finally, my turn. I'm going to last a whole five minutes against Mizuki-sensei and stick it to that Teme's face that I can do just as good as him, if not better. –ttebayo!' exclaimed Naruto. _

_As Naruto stepped into the sparring ring, Misuki's face hardened and he sent a barrage of attacks at Naruto. 'What the hell? He's moving much faster and hitting much harder than he did against any of the other students!'_ _thought Naruto as he just barely dodged a punch intended to knock a few teeth out._

_The bell at the three minute mark rang before Naruto received a strong kick in the stomach, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Naruto had just barely passed the taijutsu portion, but nearly lost his breakfast. Mizuki growled underneath his breath, but still wasn't too worried. Naruto's score on the taijutsu portion was nowhere near enough to balance out the big fat '0' he received on the written portion._

_Third was the physical test in which students were instructed to perform a number of physical exercises to test their physical dexterity and conditioning. _

_Naruto was up and was currently on an exercise where he had to jump across the top of logs to traverse a gap. Landing on top of one of the large posts, Naruto spied his next target and made a leap for that log, only to fall straight through the wood and land flat on his ass._

"_What the hell? There was a log there!" shouted Naruto. Most of the students just laughed at his slip-up and frustration while Iruka sighed and put a low score underneath Naruto's name for not completing the obstacle course. _

_Once again, the white-haired chunin grinned, having tricked Naruto yet again with a genjutsu._

_The weapons portion followed and Naruto was handed 10 kunai and 10 shuriken and instructed to his as many targets as possible. _

_Stepping up to the line, Naruto grabbed his first kunai and threw it at the target; however, about halfway to the target, it fell to the ground like a rock. Naruto just stared in shock and quickly grabbed his next kunai, adjusting his aim and throwing it. This time, the kunai sailed clear over the target. _

_The remaining kunai and shuriken were not much different; with just a few hitting the target, just barely enough for a passing mark. And for the third time today, a big grin lit up on Mizuki's face. Weren't gravity seals just wonderful? He didn't want Naruto to completely bomb the exam. He wanted the blonde to just barely fail so that he could manipulate him that much easier._

"_The last thing you'll all need to is come into the next room and perform the __Bunshin no Jutsu__ (clone jutsu)," Iruka announced._

'_No! Not that one! That's my worst skill!' panicked Naruto in the back of the classroom. As his name was called, Naruto entered the room and attempted to perform the __Bunshin no Jutsu__. A large puff of smoke filled the room and as the smoke cleared, a dead and pathetic looking clone collapsed next to Naruto. The blonde and Iruka both exchanged an irritated look before Iruka used his own jutsu, the __Big Head no Jutsu__._

"_YOU FAIL!"_

_Later that afternoon, a depressed Naruto sat alone on the swing outside the academy as he watched all the parents come to congratulate their children on passing. Everyone just ignored him, just like they have been doing since Naruto could remember. He didn't know why everyone hated him and shunned him._

"_Hey that kid…" whispered one of the parents to another. _

"_Yeah, that's 'the kid' and he's also the only one who failed," spoke the other parent._

"_Well that's a good thing. He shouldn't become a shinobi. Since he's…"_

"_Shh…we're not supposed to talk about that," the second parent said, hushing the first._

_As Naruto dragged himself back to his home, he was encountered by Mizuki-sensei. Minutes later, the student and sensei found themselves sitting on the balcony that extended from the apartment Naruto had been given by the Hokage ever since he was kicked out of the orphanage at the age of six._

"_Iruka-sensei's a serious person. His parents were killed when he was young and he had to take care of things himself," spoke Mizuki, trying to explain why exactly Iruka had failed Naruto._

"_But why does he pick on only me?!" asked Naruto._

"_He probably sees himself in you. He wants to see you become strong the real way. Try to understand Iruka-sensei's feelings. Since you also have no parents," said Mizuki. However, Mizuki's comment only seemed to drag the blonde down as Naruto was reminded by the harsh truth that he had no parents nor was he aware of their identities. All he would wish for was a name, something to let him know that his parents were good people and that he wasn't some 'demon spawn' as some villagers put it. "I'll tell you what. I'll let you in on a little secret…"_

_It was late at night and the entire village of Konohagakure no Sato was fast asleep…except for one Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde troublemaker was currently sneaking into the house of the very man who ran this village and everything was going fine until…_

"_What are you doing in my house at this hour?" asked Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage as he encountered Naruto sneaking through his own home._

"_What?!" exclaimed a startled Naruto before acting on impulse. "__Oiroke no Jutsu__!"_

_Standing in front of the Hokage was a sexy, young, busty, and incredibly naked young woman with very thin whisps of smoke struggling to cover the young beauty's private areas._

_Upon taking one look at this formidable…and incredibly sexy woman, the Hokage found himself defeated and passed out with gushers of blood spewing from his nose._

"_Alright, I found it!" exclaimed Naruto as he sifted through numerous scrolls inside the Hokage's home, before coming to one labeled 'Forbidden Scroll of Sealing'. With that, he dashed out of the house and into the woods with one of the village's most prized scrolls on his back._

_About two hours later, Naruto was sitting in the woods, panting and dirtied._

"_I've found you!" exclaimed Iruka as he jumped down from a tree in front of Naruto. "What the hell are you doing out here?!"_

"_Hehe, you found me. I've only learned one thing," grinned Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head._

"_You look all beaten up, what were you doing here?" asked Iruka._

"_Never mind that, hey hey!" exclaimed Naruto as he began bouncing up and down. "I'm going to try an incredible jutsu now. If I do, you'll let me graduate. At least that's what Mizuki-sensei said! Oh, and he also told me about this scroll and the special test for graduating!"_

"_Mizuki?" said Iruka. However, before he could continue with his thoughts, Iruka reacted suddenly and pushed Naruto to the side before getting pelted with a barrage of kunai._

"_Nice job finding the moron!" called out a voice from up in the trees._

"_I see, so that's what's going on…" growled an injured Iruka with numerous kunai sticking out of his arms and legs._

"_Naruto, give me the scroll!" ordered the newly arriving Mizuki._

"_Huh?! What?! What's going on here?!" asked a confused and frantic Naruto._

"_NARUTO! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GIVE HIM THAT SCROLL!" shouted Iruka. "That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden jutsu inside it. Mizuki used you to get his hands on it."_

"_Naruto, there's no point in you having it. How about I tell you a little secret that's been kept for 12 years. One that everyone knows except you…" grinned Mizuki. As soon as Iruka heard Mizuki open his mouth, he knew what the white-haired chunin/traitor was going to say and began to protest. "12 years ago…you know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune being sealed, right? However, the truth is that you are in fact the Nine Tailed Demon Fox!"_

"_W-what?!" stuttered Naruto as his entire mind was blown away by that revelation. "What do you mean?"_

"_Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you? Iruka is the same…he also hates you!" taunted Mizuki as some anger flared up in Naruto. Reaching to his back, Mizuki grabbed the large shuriken and threw it at Naruto._

_Still frozen by the truth, Naruto stood there helplessly. However, before the shuriken could kill him, Naruto looked up to see that Iruka had actually taken the shuriken in the back, using his own body as a shield to protect Naruto._

"_W-why?"_

"_My parents…after they died there was nobody to compliment or acknowledge me…I always acted like an idiot just to get people's attention. Since I wasn't good at learning, it was better than being nothing so I continued to act like an idiot," explained Iruka before he began to tear up. "It was so painful…Naruto, you also must have also been in a lot of pain. I'm sorry Naruto, if I had done a better job, you wouldn't have to feel like this."_

_Immediately after Iruka's speech, Naruto bolted off into the woods and Mizuki just laughed. "Naruto isn't the type to have a change of heart. And I think he's planning on using the scroll to get revenge. You saw those eyes earlier, the eyes of a real demon."_

"_Naruto…isn't like that!" exclaimed Iruka as he fought through the pain and rose to his feet slowly, but Mizuki was already in pursuit of Naruto._

"_Naruto!" Iruka shouted as he chased after the blonde. "Hurry, give me the scroll! Mizuki is after you!" To Iruka's surprise, Naruto slammed into the scar-faced chunin, sending him flying to the ground._

"_Why…Naruto…" grunted Iruka before he transformed back into Mizuki. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka."_

_Naruto just grinned before transforming as well. Where Naruto once was, now stood a weary Iruka._

"_Hehe, you'd even transform into…what killed your parents to protect him," grinned Mizuki._

"_I won't hand over the scroll to someone like you!" fought Iruka._

"_If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want!" declared Mizuki. "There's no way that demon Fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll!"_

"_Yeah…the Demon Fox would do that…But Naruto's different. I'll acknowledge his as one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker and he's clumsy and no one accepts him. He already knows what it's like to feel pain inside your heart. He isn't the Demon Fox! He's a member of the Hidden Leaf! He is Uzumaki Naruto!"_

_Sitting behind a tree, Naruto was failing to fight back the tears as he listened to Iruka-sensei's declaration._

_Back with Mizuki and Iruka, Mizuki grinned and reached for the second shuriken on his back. "Fine, whatever. Just die!" With that, Mizuki prepared to throw the shuriken, but was tackled before he even had a chance to do such._

"_Naruto?!" asked an amazed Iruka._

"_You shouldn't have done that, brat!" growled Mizuki. _

"_If you ever touch Iruka-sensei, I'LL KILL YOU!" declared Naruto._

"_Hah, I'll kill someone like you in one shot!" laughed Mizuki._

"_Try it trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"_

"_Then do it! Demon Fox!" Mizuki egged._

"_Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!__" With those words, the forest was filled with 1000 solid Naruto clones. The now panicking Mizuki could only whimper as he felt the wrath of 1000 pissed off Naruto clones._

'_Each one was a real body and not an illusion' thought Iruka. 'Maybe he will surpass all the previous Hokages.'_

"_Oops, I think I went a little overboard there…" grinned Naruto. _

"_Naruto, come over here. There's something I want to give you," said Iruka._

_Moments later, Naruto opened his eyes to see Iruka smiling at him, only Iruka was missing his hitai-ate. Said hitai-ate was now tied to Naruto's head. "Congratulations, on graduating."_

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A loud alarm rang through the apartment of Uzumaki Naruto and the blonde began to stir. "Man that was a weird dream," said Naruto to no one in particular. "It's like Mizuki-sensei wanted me to fail the genin test and then tricks me into stealing some scroll which I learn some sort of cool clone jutsu from. Oh well, it was just a dream, right? Time to go ace that graduation test and get that much closer to becoming Hokage, -ttebayo!"

With that, Uzumaki Naruto took off to begin his day, completely unaware of just what had awoken from its ages old slumber.

-End Chapter-

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_**Author Notes**_

**Well, there's the first chapter/prologue. I know it was short and I promise chapters will be getting longer with this story. **

**Pairings: While pairings won't be the main focus of this story, I will probably include them at some point later in the story. This is NOT a harem story and Naruto will only be with one female. Naruto's pairing is undecided and while my default pairing for him would be NaruHina, I'm not entirely sure I want to go with that pairing. Anyways, I'll worry about the pairings when it comes to that.**


	2. Awakening

_**Chapter 1: Awakening an Ancient Power**_

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine…sorry to disappoint you.**

**Disclaimer: First, I don't own Naruto. Second, I am using the Japanese names for jutsus (English translation in parentheses). I am by no means an expert at the Japanese language and as such, any translations that I can't find for cannon techniques will most likely be done using Google Translate. Hopefully these translations don't offend anyone, but just in case…you have been warned.**

* * *

It was early morning throughout Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. For many members of this village, today was an exciting day. Today was the day where many fresh young students would be graduating from the Shinobi Academy and joining the village's ranks as genin. One such student, an orange-clad Uzumaki Naruto, was super excited to becoming a full fledge ninja and putting himself one step closer to realizing his dream…becoming Hokage. Still, one thought hung in the back of his head, a thought he just couldn't dismiss for whatever reason.

"_That was actually kind of a strange dream,"_ thought the blonde. Last night's dream regarding him failing the graduation test, only to be offered a fake make-up test by Mizuki-sensei and be tricked into stealing some forbidden scroll didn't feel like a dream for some odd reason. _"Oh well, there's no way I'm going to fail because I'm going to be Hokage one day, -ttebayo!"_

Naruto arrived at the academy and took a seat amongst a table in the back of the classroom, next to a napping student with pineapple-like hair. Sitting next to him was a larger kid who was munching on a bag of chips. Naruto knew these two as Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji, two of the kids in his class that he actually got along well with.

Before much else happened, the class' teacher, a chunin by the name of Umino Iruka, entered the room and took his place at the podium, taking a quick glance to ensure that his lectern hadn't been booby trapped by a certain blonde-haired prankster. Seeing that it was safe today, Iruka began the introduction speech to the graduation exam.

"Good morning class, welcome to what will hopefully be your final day as a student here in the academy. As you are all aware, today is the graduation exam and should you pass, you will be honored with the privilege of becoming one of this village's fine shinobi," Iruka explained. Normally, Naruto would have disregarded Iruka's speech, but for some bizarre reason, the words out of Iruka's mouth were the exact same as those from his dream the previous night. "Now, the graduation exam is divided into five parts. First there is a written portion of the test, then a taijutsu portion, physical portion, weapons portion, and finally a ninjutsu portion."

"_Weird. That's exactly what Iruka-sensei said in my dream,"_ thought Naruto. Passing it off as a mere coincidence, Naruto waited excitedly for the test to be handed out. While he wasn't the brightest student in the class, he had actually studied the scrolls and materials diligently over the past few days, hoping that he wouldn't repeat his failing performances like the past two exams.

Naruto immediately turned over the test once it was handed to him and began going over the questions.

First question…Name three of the village's four Hokages.

"_Hmm…just like in my dream,"_ thought Naruto.

Second question…What is chakra.

Going through the remaining questions, he found that this was the exact same test as the one he had in his 'dream'. _"Okay, now this is getting a little freaky. This is the exact same test." _Naruto wanted to disregard the warning bells going off in his head, but they were too loud and he began to remember his dream more clearly. _"Wait…but if this is like the dream, then is Mizuki-sensei actually trying to fail me?"_

Now Naruto was torn. Did he answer the questions that were there as is or did he rely on the feeling in his gut and answer the questions based on the order that they appeared in his dream after Mizuki removed the genjutsu. Deciding to go with his gut, Naruto clearly remembered the order that the questions were actually in and wrote the answers where they would be when the genjutsu was released.

Hesitantly, and hoping to Kami that his gut had told him the right thing, Naruto turned in his test to Mizuki before exiting the room and joining those who had completed the test outside. Mizuki took the test and before handing it to Iruka to be graded, dispelled the genjutsu. The questions on the test rearranged themselves, just as they had done in Naruto's dream. Mizuki grinned as he handed the test to Iruka, thinking he had just caused the blonde to flunk the written portion of the test.

Iruka took Naruto's test and began to grade before setting his pen down after writing a single number on top of the paper. _"Wow, I'm impressed Naruto. You actually managed to ace that. Good job."_

Another 30 minutes passed and soon the instructors joined the students outside and Iruka passed out the results of the written portion of the test. To say Naruto was amazed with the 10/10 for his written test was an understatement. It was more like he was mentally freaking out. He knew that based in the test he handed in his answers should have been wrong, but here was the perfect test with the questions in the same place that they had been…after the genjutsu was dispelled.

The taijutsu test was next and the matches were called in the exact same order, and proceeded exactly as they had in his dream. The fact that Naruto could vividly remember the dream was an amazement in itself, but the fact that just about everything had happened in it was what really got him.

Naruto's turn came and he stepped into the ring with Mizuki, who had a sinister smirk on his face. As soon as the timer started, Mizuki began to throw a series of rapid strikes, hoping to catch the blonde 'demon brat' off balance and do some physical damage as well. But alas, Naruto somehow managed to avoid the most brutal of attacks and stay standing throughout the portion of the test. The three minute bell rang, indicating that Naruto had passed, and realizing what was coming, Naruto rolled to the side and avoided the strong kick aimed at his gut. Normally, Naruto would keep going, determining to last all five minutes, but once he realized that Mizuki was actually trying to hurt him, Naruto called it at about 3:30, a passing mark and still better than half the class.

Next was the physical test and as Naruto came to the log-skip obstacle, he stopped atop one log, the same one he had jumped from just before passing through the genjutsu log in his 'dream'. By this point in time, Naruto had already decided that whatever had happened in his dream was actually happening now and that Mizuki really was trying to fail him. Well, there was no way Naruto was going to let that happen. Naruto skipped the genjutsu log and landed safely atop the one after it. Had he looked at his white-haired instructor, he would have seen the scowl on Mizuki's face. Naruto managed to successfully complete the obstacle course, doing better than most of the class. So far, Naruto had managed to pass three of the five exams and things were looking up for the genin hopeful. Now for the weapons portion…

"_That's right. There are seals or something on these kunai that alter the flight. Just gotta remember what the kunai did in my dream and adjust," _thought Naruto as his first kunai buried itself in the ground about half-way to the target. _"Let's see, the second one went high, so if I just aim a bit lower…"_ Naruto adjusted his aim and threw the next kunai, which threw much lighter than it should have, but thanks to the adjustments, it landed on the target, earning a score of 7/10 for that throw…not bad for a sabotaged kunai. The rest of the weapons test proceeded similar to that, Naruto earning a respectable and passing mark. All that remained was the jutsu portion. Unfortunately, Naruto knew just what jutsu was coming up.

"The last thing you'll all need to do is to come into the next room and perform the Bunshin no Jutsu," announced Iruka. However, the Bunshin no Jutsu was the last thing on Naruto's mind.

"_What the hell is going on? It's like I already took this test. Then does that mean that everything else that happened in the dream was true? Even that thing Mizuki-sensei said about…,"_

"Uzumaki Naruto, please come in!" called out Iruka from the room. Naruto was instantly broken out of his thought as he stepped into the room.

"_Damn, it's the bunshin. My worst jutsu,"_ sighed Naruto.

Iruka explained that Naruto was to make two clones and Naruto sighed before gathering chakra.

"This is it, I'll get it for sure!" exclaimed Naruto. "Bunsihn no Jutsu!"

A massive puff of smoke filled the room, clearing shortly after to reveal…a poorly formed and nearly dead clone. Everyone deadpanned.

"_He was so close…"_ sighed Iruka. "Naruto, I'm sorry but you f-"

"No wait Iruka-sensei, I can do it! Just give me one more chance, please!" pleaded Naruto.

Iruka just shook his head. As much as he really wanted to pass the blonde, his clone was nowhere near good enough for a mark that would cause him to pass.

"_Damnit, what was that jutsu from my dream…umm umm…"_ Naruto began to panic and tried to recall his dream, more specifically the special clone jutsu that he managed to use. He had seen, and could remember clearly, the instructions for the jutsu in his dreams and just how he used it.

"No please…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" exclaimed Naruto before a large puff of smoke filled the room. To say that Iruka and Mizuki were shocked upon seeing over a dozen solid Naruto clones was the understatement of the century.

"Naruto…" gasped Iruka. "Where did you learn that jutsu. Those are solid clones…"

"Well umm…" Naruto was now trying to think up a reasonable explanation. "I saw it in my dreams."

"_That excuse was almost as bad as one of Hatake Kakashi's,_" Iruka sweat dropped. "Naruto, come with me."

"Where are we going, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"To see the Hokage," replied Iruka. "Mizuki, could you finish up for me?"

"Sure, Iruka," said Mizuki. Underneath his calm exterior, Mizuki was fuming. Now his genius scheme at getting Naruto to steal the forbidden scroll was ruined.

"Wait Iruka-sensei, do I pass?" asked Naruto.

"I…don't know Naruto," spoke Iruka hesitantly. He wanted to pass the blonde badly, but he had to consult with the Hokage first regarding Naruto using a jonin-rank kinjutsu.

* * *

"Well, this certainly is interesting. How did Naruto get the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" spoke the Sandaime to no one in particular as he had just observed Naruto's stunt through his crystal ball. Moments later, a knock was heard on the door to his office and in stepped Iruka and the very center of his attention.

"Sandaime-sama," bowed Iruka. "Please excuse me, but I was just giving Naruto his graduation test when he…"

"Performed a jonin-level kinjutsu. Yes, I know Iruka," said the Hokage as he took a breath of smoke from his pipe. "Now Naruto-kun, would you mind explaining to me how you came across the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?"

Naruto told the Hokage and Iruka about his dream, Sarutobi Hiruzen listening intently while Iruka thought Naruto was just making up some silly excuse.

"And then Mizuki told me that I have…" said Naruto before pausing. "Jiji, am I really the Kyuubi no Kitsune?"

That immediately captured Hiruzen's full undivided attention and the room was filled with a heavy silence. It was at that point that the Hokage realized there was more to this 'dream' of Naruto's.

"I see…" sighed Naruto, the silence answering his question.

"Naruto, while it is true that the Kyuubi no Kitsune is sealed within you, that does not make you the Fox himself," spoke Hiruzen before reaching into his desk and pulling out a scroll and a kunai. "Now you see this kunai? This is the Kyuubi. You are this scroll."

The Hokage proceeded to seal the kunai within the scroll. "Now, is this scroll that I sealed the kunai within the kunai?"

"No, I guess not," said Naruto, letting out a sigh of relief. "Iruka-sensei?" Naruto looked over towards his sensei for something.

"Naruto…I'm sorry," said Iruka, trying to apologize for the hatred he used to hold for the blonde.

"It's okay Iruka-sensei. But if you really want to apologize, perhaps you could treat me to Ichiraku Ramen," grinned Naruto. Iruka sighed in relief. Naruto held nothing against him and was still willing to get their favorite meal together.

"Thank you, Naruto," said Iruka. "But I still don't understand. How do you know the Kage Bushin no Jutsu?"

"I said I saw it in my dream," said Naruto.

"As much as I'd like to believe that, I don't see how anyone could learn a jonin-level jutsu by just dreaming about it," said Iruka.

"Iruka, I know it may sound unbelievable, and while I may be no sensory ninja, I can't sense any fluctuations in Naruto-kun's chakra. It doesn't seem like he's lying, but I too am curious," said Sarutobi before making a motion for an ANBU to appear. After giving the ANBU a message, the ANBU disappeared to carry out its task. "I would like to have Yamanaka Inoichi take a look through Naruto-kun's mind. We'll figure out the nature behind this 'dream' and the source of Naruto's learning of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

"I see," said Iruka. Naruto just gave everyone a confused look.

Minutes later, Naruto found himself in a chair with an older man who had a blonde ponytail standing in front of him. "I see," said the blonde man as the Hokage finished explaining the situation to him before he turned to Naruto. "My name is Yamanaka Inoichi. I'm going to be taking a look at this so called 'dream' of yours Naruto-kun. If you just relax, this will all go smoothly."

Inoichi's eyes opened in surprise as he finished his mind walk. Naruto was not lying. Somehow, the blonde had actually seen the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing in a dream and had gotten the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

"Hokage-sama…" spoke Inoichi.

"I see…" said the Hokage. "This is most intriguing." Once again, the Hokage signaled for an ANBU and a purple haired, cat masked kunoichi appeared. "Neko, please bring Mizuki here."

"Hokage-sama, what do you want with Mizuki?" asked Iruka.

"It appears as if Naruto-kun's dream was no dream. Rather, I believe it was a glimpse into the future. Somehow, he saw the events of what transpired or rather…would transpire today," said the Hokage.

"And you actually think Mizuki was going to betray us?" asked Iruka.

"That will be determined now. I intend to find out what Mizuki's intentions were and if they match the actions displayed in Naruto-kun's dream, then I suspect that we may have something…most interesting going on here," spoke the Sandaime. _"Minato…could your son actually have awoken THAT bloodline?"_

"Iruka, Naruto, you are both dismissed for now. I will call for both of you in a few days after I have looked further into this matter," said the Hokage. "Oh and I don't want either of you to speak of this matter to anyone else. This is to remain a secret until I investigate further."

"Umm wait…" spoke Naruto. Everyone looked at the blonde. "So do I pass? You know, am I a ninja now?"

"Let's ask Iruka, shall we?" Hiruzen said, turning to the scar-faced chunin.

"How about we celebrate your graduation with a bowl of ramen," grinned Iruka before getting tackled by an orange bundle of joy.

* * *

"Here you go!" exclaimed Teuchi, the ramen chef at Ichiraku Ramen as he placed two large bowls of pork ramen in front of his two best customers. "And congratulations Naruto on graduating."

"So where's your hitai-ate, Naruto-kun?" asked Ayame, the brown-haired girl and daughter of Teuchi.

"What?! I never got my hitai-ate!" shouted Naruto as he began freaking out.

"Here," Iruka said before giving a Konoha hitai-ate to Naruto from his own head.

"You really mean it?" asked Naruto as his face lit up. Iruka smiled and nodded before tying it on Naruto's head. "Wow, thanks Iruka-sensei. Hey Ayame-neechan, how do I look?"

"Congratulations Naruto-kun," said Ayame.

"Now you were never told this Naruto because we left before the exam was finished, but you will have to come back for orientation at the Academy in a few days. There, you'll be placed on a team underneath a jonin-sensei who will help guide you as a shinobi," explained Iruka.

"But can't I just have you as a sensei?" asked Naruto.

Iruka laughed. "I'm sorry Naruto. As much as I'd like to, that's not how things go. But you can always stop by the Academy and maybe I can help you make up some of the stuff you missed."

"Nah! I'm a ninja now, -ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto. "I'm going to be doing awesome ninja stuff and learning cool new jutsus!"

Iruka laughed. "Well, you have two weeks. If there's anything you want during then, don't be afraid to ask."

The two slurped their ramen for some time, all 12 bowls of it, before Naruto spoke up again. "Hey Iruka-sensei, so what do you think is going on? What was the reason for that vision thing that Jiji was talking about? Did I really see the future?"

"I honestly don't know," replied Iruka. "I'm as confused about this as you are. I've never heard of a ninja who could see the future. I wonder if Mizuki really meant to do what you said he did?"

"I mean, he tried to fail me, but he didn't make me steal some scroll from Jiji or try…" said Naruto.

"Try to kill me you mean?" asked Iruka.

"Yeah. I can't believe that something like that would happen either, but just thinking about the exam and how everything I did actually turned out to be the right thing makes me believe that it really was more than just a dream," answered Naruto.

"I don't know what to say. I honestly don't" replied Iruka.

* * *

"_Man, that was kind of weird,_" said Naruto as he woke the next morning. _"What was that all about? A little kid named Konohamaru, who turns out to be Jiji's grandson who has some closet perv teacher?"_

Today Naruto had decided to get his shinobi registration picture. However, he awoke after having another strange dream or vision, whatever you wanted to call it. Turning in his picture to the Hokage, a tick mark appeared on the old kage's head.

"Take it again," said an irritated Sarutobi, throwing the registration form back to Naruto. It was revealed that Naruto had scribbled some weird markings on himself and used that as a registration picture.

"But I saw it in a dream and I just _had_ to go with it," grinned Naruto.

All of the sudden, the door to the office creaked open and a small boy, the same small boy from Naruto's latest dream slid into the room wielding a shuriken. "Fight me Old Man!" shouted the kid.

"_Sigh…will it ever end?"_ thought Hiruzen as he lowered the brim of his hat.

"_And now he's going to trip over his scarf…"_ thought Naruto as the young boy, most likely Konohamaru charged at the Hokage, only to trip over his own scarf.

"Damnit! Who set a trap?!" shouted Konohamaru.

"Are you alright?! And there isn't a trap anywhere!" shouted the boy's instructor, who Naruto immediately identified as the closet perv from his dream/vision.

"Ah ha! It was you who set that trap!" declared Konohamaru, pointing directly at Naruto.

"You tripped over your own feet, you idiot!" restorted Naruto.

"Hey, let him go! He's the Hokage's grandson!" shouted Ebisu.

"Heh, come on then!" shouted Konohamaru. "Go ahead and punch me! Oh wait, you wouldn't dare hurt the Hokage's grandson!"

"You really think I give a damn, idiot!?" shouted Naruto as he smacked Konohamaru across the head.

"Hey, you can't do that to the Honorable Grandson!" shouted the closet perv. "If you don't let him go, I'll…"

"You'll what?" replied Naruto smugly.

"How dare you. I am an elite instructor! You'll treat me with respect!" exclaimed Ebisu.

"Oh yeah? Oiroke no Jutsu!" said Naruto before he transformed into a beautify busty young woman with no clothes on and thin smoke wisps just barely covering her private areas. As if on cue, both the closet perv and the Hokage flew back as blood rocketed out of their noses.

Naruto had left the tower, but he wasn't alone. Still, his little stalker proved to be more irritating than he originally expected.

"_Even I didn't need that dream…vision…whatever it was to tell me what's going on,"_ thought Naruto before he turned to a poorly disguised Konohamaru, who was trying to blend in with the alley fence. His disguise was perfect…except for the fact that the boards on his blanket were going the wrong way.

"Stop following me! And you aren't fooling anyone with that!" shouted Naruto, pointing at the 'disguised' Konohamaru.

"Hehe impressive to see through my disguise. Just what I'd expect from someone like you," smirked Konohamaru.

"Hey, I'll make you my boss! And in exchange…" Naruto expected some ridiculous request, but then again he knew exactly what Konohamaru was going to request. "Please teach me that Oiroke no Jutsu!"

The rest of the day was filled with horrific attempts at Konohamaru to transform into an acceptable female form. During the evening, Naruto and Konohamaru were taking a break from Konohamaru's 'training' and Konohamaru explained why he kept trying to attack his grandpa, because he wanted to be recognized as someone other than the Honourable Grandson of the Hokage. That was why he wanted to be Hokage, for the recognition. Naruto in turn responded that there were no short cuts to becoming Hokage and if Konohamaru really wanted the hat, he would have to beat Naruto first. In the end, Konohamaru actually saw Naruto as a rival to work towards beating. Oh and the closet perv showed up, only to fall victim to an even more devastating version of the Oiroke no Jutsu, the Harem no Jutsu. By the end of the day, the closet perv instructor would need several blood transfusions due to massive blood loss.

Before leaving the clearing where he and Konohamaru were training, Naruto was approached by the Hokage. "I saw your expression in the office earlier today. Did you really know what was going to happen today?"

"Last night. For some strange reason, I had another one of those dreams," replied Naruto. "Did you find out anything regarding these visions?"

"Not yet, but I've got a theory. I should have an answer in a few days. I will say this though. Everything you saw regarding Mizuki was true. He really did intend on using you to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and turn traitor," spoke the Hokage.

"_Really? So Mizuki really would try and kill me and Iruka-sensei?"_ thought Naruto. _"I honestly can't believe it."_

* * *

A few days later,

Naruto was awoken to a knock at the door. Except, there was no knock and instead Naruto had opened the door of his apartment just before Iruka had a chance to knock. "I take it Jiji wants to see us now?" Naruto asked.

"Did you…" asked a surprised Iruka.

"It's weird, Iruka-sensei. I've had this happen three times now, and whatever I see seems to happen, with the exception of the graduation exams, but there I kind of didn't do what these dreams told me to do," replied Naruto. "However, just now was different. It wasn't a dream. I was just enjoying my breakfast when this vision of you showing up to take me to Jiji popped into my head."

"Well, it's been a few days. Hopefully Hokage-sama has some answers for you," replied Iruka before he grabbed Naruto and shunshined towards the tower.

As Naruto and Iruka entered the Hokage's office, Hiruzen immediately signaled to the ANBU in his office to leave. After the entire office was clear, with the exception of the Hokage, Naruto, and Iruka, the Sandaime activated all of the privacy seals in his office.

"Naruto, I've looked into some of these 'visions' you've been having and I think I know what's going on," said the Sandaime. "However, I have yet to confirm this for certain, but I know how."

"Really? Then what do I need to do?" asked the blonde.

"Turn around and face away from me. Then I want you to channel chakra into your eyes," instructed Hiruzen. "Iruka, you are to just stand there and make no sudden movements. Understood? No speaking. No moving. Just stand there for the moment."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," replied Iruka.

"When you're ready, Naruto," said the Sandaime and Naruto turned away, facing into the wall as he tried to channel as much chakra into his eyes as he could.

After a few moments, and without making a single sound, the Hokage pulled out a kunai and threw it at the unsuspecting Naruto, who was looking away and unaware of what the Hokage had just done. Iruka had tried to warn Naruto, but a look from the Hokage kept him frozen and silent.

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened as he jumped to the side to avoid the kunai. "What the hell was that?!"

Looking at Naruto, who had now turned around to confront his attacker, Iruka practically gasped at the sight of Naruto and Hiruzen let out a long held breath. "It is as I suspected. You do in fact have THAT bloodline."

"Huh? What bloodline?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Umm Naruto…your eyes," said Iruka, pointing at Naruto's eyes. Naruto just looked confused, but Hiruzen handed Naruto a mirror and Naruto saw exactly what they were talking about. His eyes, which were normally a bright cerulean, now had a glowing purple-ish white twelve-point star with his normal pupils and his blue eyes as a background for the star.

"Jiji, what is this?" asked a stunned Naruto.

"It's the dojutsu associated with your bloodline, the Shoraigan (Future's eye)," said Sarutobi.

"What? Bloodline?" asked Naruto.

"There are legends that speak of an incredibly powerful bloodline that existed over a millennia ago. However, that bloodline was thought to have vanished back then and has since then been shrouded in myth and legend." At this point, Sarutobi let out a sigh. There were a few pieces of information that he had found that associated Naruto with this bloodline, but revealing those pieces would reveal some secrets that the elderly Hokage didn't feel Naruto was quite ready to hear. "Those eyes, the twelve-point star, hold the Shoraigan. As I said, that is the dojutsu associated with the bloodline, known as the Jikaton (Time-Release)."

"Jikaton?" asked a wide-eyed Naruto.

"Yes. According to the legends, it's an extremely powerful bloodline that supposedly gave the wielder the power to manipulate the very fabric of time itself," explained the Sandaime before pulling out what looked to be a very old scroll. "This scroll I found buried in the village archives. It's the only one we have that tells some of the legends regarding this bloodline of yours."

"_And if the legends about it are correct, it was the only power that could match that of the legendary Rikudou Sennin,"_ thought the Hokage.

"Whoa…" Naruto gasped. Today was turning out to be a great day after the discovery of an extremely powerful bloodline.

"Now Naruto, I strongly suggest you keep this bloodline a secret for a little while. Also, from what it appears, those visions you've been having are a result of your dojutsu activating. If your visions and that little demonstration with the kunai are anything to go by, they most likely allow to glimpse into the future, allowing you to act accordingly. As to how your bloodline activated, I'm not entirely sure myself, but I will say this. What you have is an extremely powerful gift. DO NOT abuse it."

"I understand Jiji," replied Naruto.

"Good. Now, if your dojutsu is even remotely similar to others like the Byakugan and Sharingan, then I believe practising with it will help you strengthen and control it. Perhaps you'll be able to control these visions of yours instead of having them occur randomly at night," explained Sarutobi. "Naruto, I feel there is more to your bloodline than just your eyes, but I don't even know where to begin to help you. The best I can do is give you that scroll, but the rest is up to you."

"Don't worry Jiji. I'll get this down and once I do, you'd better have that hat of yours ready! –ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sarutobi let out a slight laugh. "I look forward to it. Now, if you want to train with your bloodline over the next few days, I'll provide you with a private training ground. I'm sure Iruka here wouldn't mind helping you train a little bit anyways."

"Of course I'll help Naruto, Hokage-sama," replied Iruka.

"Good. With that, the two of you are dismissed. But before you go, Iruka, Naruto's bloodline is considered a SS-class secret," stated the Hokage.

"I understand, Hokage-sama," replied Iruka.

"Naruto, on the other hand, it is your bloodline and you are free to tell anyone you wish to tell but I recommend using caution as to who you tell," said Sarutobi.

Naruto nodded before leaving with Iruka. Naruto was interested to see what else was in that old beat-up scroll that the Hokage had given him.

"_Minato…The bloodline that had laid dormant in your family for a millennia has awoken after so much time and in your own son. I wonder what you would say if you were still here to see it with your own eyes,"_ thought Sarutobi as he looked up at the picture of his predecessor and successor, the Yondaime Hokage.

* * *

Naruto now sat alone in his apartment in front of a mirror. In a sense, he was training, but in reality he was playing with this cool new dojutsu he had discovered, trying to get a feel for how to activate and deactivate it at will. As Naruto concentrated some chakra into his eyes, he opened them while looking into a mirror.

"Whoa, this is really cool!" exclaimed the blonde.

Releasing the chakra from his eyes, he saw the twelve-point star disappear and his eyes return to their normal cerulean blue color.

And once more, Naruto activated his eyes, only to pass out into darkness.

* * *

An unknown location,

Naruto woke to find himself no longer in his apartment…or Konoha for that matter. Instead, the blonde boy was resting atop what looked to be a towering stone castle. As Naruto looked around, he was taken aback by the amazing sight that lay before him. The tower itself appeared to be perched on a high cliff, overlooking a raging ocean, but that was not the most striking feature of wherever Naruto had ended up. No, the most amazing thing visible was the sky.

Numerous moons and stars of different colors and sizes littered the night sky. Nowhere had Naruto ever imagined such a sight.

"After 1000 years, it appears you have arrived once again…"

Naruto, immediately startled by the voice quickly turned around to see a cloaked figure, covered from head to toe and concealing all but a small glimpse of his face and long white beard. The cloak itself was a midnight blue in color with various golden wisps and circles that danced through the cloak. The other noticeable feature on this man was the hourglass he was carrying and the massive scythe.

"Who…where am I? And who are you?"

"Where you are is no concern yet and as for who I am, I guess you can call me Time," spoke the cloaked figure.

"Okay…and what am I doing here?" asked Naruto. "Why am I not in my apartment? And what did you mean I have arrived again, I've never been here before?!"

"Patience, young one," spoke Time. "You are here because your newly awakened powers brought you here. It was only a matter of time anyways."

"So what am I doing here?" asked Naruto.

"I simply…wanted to meet the next bearer of my powers," said Time.

"Wait, do you know something about this bloodline thing I have?" asked Naruto.

"That bloodline of yours originated from myself since the beginning of time itself. Every 1000 years, it shows itself in a new bearer. You just happened to be the descendent of mine who inherited it this time around," spoke Time.

"Okay, so besides this dojutsu I got, what other powers are there?" inquired Naruto.

"That is for you to discover. Over time, you will discover more of you are capable, but also face increasingly difficult tests that you must pass," spoke Time.

"What exactly are these tests?" asked Naruto.

"In time, you will see…" spoke Time.

"_Why does it sound like this guy has a clock for brains?"_ thought Naruto at Time's constant use of the word 'time'.

"It is time for you to go. We will meet again some time in the near future," spoke Time before the cloaked man took on a completely different persona and charged at Naruto with blinding speeds, throwing the blonde off the tower.

* * *

"NOO!" Naruto shouted as he suddenly felt a thud as he landed on the hardwood floor of his apartment. Despite having fallen a hundred feet (or so he thought), all Naruto could feel was a slight bump on his head from falling on his floor. "That weird cloak guy must have had his head screwed on funny or something…wait, what even happened?"

Looking over at the clock on his bedside table, Naruto began freaking out. "It's already 8:00 in the morning?! What happened all night?!" Frantically, Naruto began sifting through his clothes. Today was the day of the genin orientation and Naruto was already cutting it much closer than he would have wanted.

* * *

-End Chapter-

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Hey everyone, so there's the first chapter of Naruto, Time Sage. Hope you like the initial ideas of this story. **

**Jikaton****, the Time-Release, is the bloodline Naruto has inherited. More of its abilities will be revealed further down the story, but for now, all Naruto has is the distinguishing dojutsu that is associated with the bloodline, the ****Shoraigan**** (Future's Eye). The Shoraigan allows Naruto to actually see into the future. How far into the future he can see depends on how much he concentrates. In a battle situation, when Naruto is constantly moving, it will only be a few seconds (maybe 15 at most if he gets a chance to catch his breath real quick). If he's meditating and actually trying to see into the future, it could be months or years when he fully masters his eye's abilities. **

**The Shoraigan is defined by a twelve-point star of a purple and white-ish color over top his normal cerulean blue eyes and a normal looking pupil in the center. **

**Again, as I said this will eventually develop into a powerful-Naruto fiction.**

**Also, please don't flame me for my use of Google Translate to help with some of these names. If you know a better translation and wish to share, please kindly put it out there and I'll consider it.**

**Let me know how I started and I'll continue in time. **


	3. Bells of Time

_**Chapter 2: The Bells of Time**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Posted:8/4/13**

* * *

Currently, Naruto was racing through the streets of Konoha on his way to the very last day he would have to come to the academy. Today was the day of the genin orientation where he would be assigned his team and begin his career as a fully fledged ninja.

The blonde newly-minted genin arrived at the Academy with some time to spare and took a seat, unfortunately next to Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was doing the same thing he did every day, brood. Ever since that day where his clan had been massacred, all Sasuke really did was brood and contemplate training.

"_Man, I hope I don't end up on his team,_" thought Naruto. _"Hmm…Now that I think about it, I can find out just exactly who is on my team, hehe."_ Naruto snickered as he silently activated his Shoraigan and tried to get them to see a little into the future when Iruka-sensei announced his team. What he saw caused him to nearly hurl his breakfast (or at least last night's dinner seeing as he didn't have time for breakfast) as Naruto darted to the opposite side of the room with speeds that would have put even the Yellow Flash of Konoha to shame.

"_OH HELL NO! THERE'S NO WAY THAT IS HAPPENING!_" Naruto shouted as he had seen something that would be scarred into his mind for eternity…him and Sasuke locking lips. Suddenly, the door burst open and a blonde blur and a pink blur fought their way into the class room.

"Get out of the way Ino-pig. I'm going to sit with Sasuke-kun!" shouted the pink haired girl.

"_Sakura-chan,"_ chirped Naruto mentally. The very girl that Naruto had a huge crush on since the beginning of the Academy had just arrived. Unfortunately, she ran towards the seat where Naruto had just been sitting and plopped herself down next to Sasuke before Ino-pig or any of the other Sasuke fan girls could do the same. _"Damn…I wish Sakura-chan would have wanted to sit next to me. Oh well, I suppose giving up the chance to sit with Sakura-chan is worth it if that doesn't mean I need to kiss Teme!"_

Still, Naruto couldn't help but glare at Sasuke, despite the warning he had just been given by his eyes.

"_Today I'm going to get Sasuke-kun's first kiss…eek!"_ shrieked one of the people who actually wanted to kiss Sasuke…Sakura.

"_**Cha. And I'm going to steal his first kiss!"**_ exclaimed Inner Sakura.

Successfully avoiding what would have been a travesty, Naruto waited until Iruka came in, occupying his time by chatting with Chouji and Kiba. They tried to make conversation with Shikamaru and Shino as well, but Shikamaru was napping and Shino was well…Shino.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi…" Iruka said as he proceeded through his graduation speech which Naruto mentally tuned out as he tried to focus on finding out who was on his team.

"_Now that I've avoided that disaster, time to see if I'm on Sakura-chan's team, hehe,"_ smirked Naruto as he reactivated his dojutsu.

"From today on, you'll each be placed on a team. We tried to balance the teams strengths and weaknesses-" Iruka was immediately interrupted by a loud shout coming from the direction of Naruto.

"WHAT?! Iruka-sensei, why the hell am I on Sasuke-teme's team?!" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto…how do you know about the teams?" glared Iruka, but not before he caught a glimpse of Naruto's activated dojutsu. _"Just great…But why am I not surprised?"_

"Just, never mind Naruto…" said Iruka, sighing and mentally face palming himself.

"_Che…like I'd ever be placed on a team with that loose,"_ thought the brooding Uchiha.

"_Naruto's on Sasuke's team? But then…no! Iruka-sensei hasn't announced the teams yet and how could Naruto of all people know that he's with Sasuke. Yeah, I'll be the one on Sasuke-kun's team!"_ thought Sakura.

"Team 7 is Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Iruka announced.

"_Wait, I am on Sakura-chan's team?!"_ thought a now excited Naruto. He stopped the vision the moment he saw he was on Sasuke's team and never saw who the third member was. "YEAH!"

Sakura's head fell onto her desk upon learning she was paired with Naruto. "…And Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka announced the final member of the team and Naruto and Sakura switched places.

Everyone was now looking at Naruto, wondering how exactly the 'dobe' had got the prediction that he would be with Sasuke correct.

Naruto glared at Sasuke and the Uchiha just grunted. "Just don't get in my way…dobe," said Sasuke. But still, "_How did he know I was going to be stuck with him?"_ Somehow, Naruto had found out about the team placements and this had actually managed to catch the Uchiha's attention.

"Team 8 will be Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino," announced Iruka. The young puppy atop the Inuzuka boy's head barked and Kiba just grinned. He had already figured, based on some of the stories from his clan, that this would be the best combination for a top-notch tracking team.

"_I'm n-not with N-Naruto-kun,"_ thought the midnight blue haired Hyuga sitting near the back of the room. To just about everyone except Naruto, it was pretty obvious that Hinata had a huge crush on the blonde troublemaker. While she was disappointed she wasn't going to be on Naruto's team, Hinata still decided that she'd do her best in order to gain her father's approval and hopefully the attention of her crush.

Shino just remained as stoic as ever as he gave his new teammates a quick nod.

"Team 9 is still active so Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji," announced Iruka. Shikamaru just grinned at Ino's misfortune and the fact that he was on a team with his best friend. "This afternoon, we'll introduce you to your jonin senseis. Until then, you can take a break."

Outside the Academy, Naruto had once again approached Sakura with the prospects of asking her out on a date, only to rejected once again. Clearly, she was interested in finding Sasuke and asking him out on a date, using the 'We're on the same team now' excuse.

* * *

"_Even If I go after him using my looks, my body proportions are below average…the only thing above average is the size of my forehead,"_ thought a depressed Sakura. She just sat there, daydreaming of Sasuke, standing just opposite the park bench she was currently sitting on, admiring her forehead for just how kissable it was.

It was when she opened her eyes that she actually realized that Sasuke was in fact standing just opposite her, admiring her forehead.

"You sure have a large charming forehead," called out a voice from across the street. Sakura picked up her head to see Sasuke walking over towards her. "It almost makes me want to kiss it. Hmph, that sounds like something Naruto would say…"

Sakura's head dropped in disappointment. "Sakura, there's something I want to ask you," spoke Sasuke. "What do you think of Naruto?"

"Huh?" asked Sakura, not quite expecting that question. "He' always getting in the way when I do something important, and he enjoys to see me struggle. He really is annoying." Somehow, Sasuke seemed disappointed and shaken by this response. "All I want is for you to acknowledge me. And I'm absolutely serious about this. I would do anything, because I like you a lot."

Sakura moved in to steal that kiss from Sasuke like she had planned. And unbelievably, Sasuke was going for it. That is, until 'Sasuke' stopped and immediately turned his head to see none other than Uchiha Sasuke walking down the road, sending a death glare towards the doppelganger.

Flashback no Jutsu

Sasuke was sitting in solitude, enjoying his own lunch. He really wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, although a ninja should ALWAYS pay attention to his surroundings so chances were that he only looked oblivious to what was happening.

Moments later, Naruto tackled him from behind with a rope in hand. However, being the 'Rookie of the Year', Sasuke was easily able to dispatch Naruto and use the very rope that was intended for him to bind the blond. That was when…

"What?!" exclaimed a surprised Sasuke as Naruto disappeared, revealing it to be a shadow clone. _"That was a solid clone. Since when could he use a solid clone?"_

Taking advantage of Sasuke's surprise, Naruto and three other clones jumped on him and bound the Uchiha before using a Henge no Jutsu (Transformation) to take on his appearance.

End Flashback no Jutsu

"Huh? Sasuke-kun?" asked a now confused Sakura before looking towards the Sasuke she was about to kiss. That Sasuke poofed in smoke, revealing it to be none other than Naruto. A tick-mark appeared on Sakura's forehead as her death glare mimicked that of Sasuke's.

"Naruto…" growled Sakura as she cracked her knuckles. Naruto jumped back, avoiding the fist that he had seen coming. His dojutsu had already told him this was going to happen when it unexpectedly activated while Sakura was trying to kiss 'Sasuke'. Unfortunately, it was too late for any sort of damage control.

Now Naruto stood opposite both Sasuke and Sakura, who wanted nothing more than to beat him into the ground for that little stunt he pulled.

"Why did you try to impersonate Sasuke-kun?" growled Sakura. "It really is a shame you don't have any parents." This immediately caught the attention of the already annoyed Sasuke. Naruto, who was also listening, looked down. She had just hit a painful chord in Naruto's heart. "You think you can do whatever you want just because you don't have any parents to ground you. I know if I acted like you, my parents would ground me for months. You know, you're actually kind of lucky you don't have any parents at home…"

"All alone…" spoke Sasuke unexpectedly. "The feeling of a parent yelling at you is nowhere near what it feels like not even having one…"

With that, Sasuke just sulked away, seeing this little confrontation as not being worth his effort.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" asked Sakura.

"You're…annoying," glared Sasuke at Sakura as the pink-haired girl suddenly broke, mirroring her expression to the one on Naruto's face.

"'_You're annoying',"_ Sasuke's words echoed in Sakura's head before turning to the blonde who was now walking away himself. "Naruto…"

Naruto stopped his stride as he heard Sakura's words call out for him.

"Naruto…I'm sorry for what I said," apologized Sakura, unexpectedly. After being called 'annoying' like she just was from Sasuke, Sakura had begun to understand just a little bit what Naruto feels like. Perhaps she could try to be a little nicer to Naruto, especially since they were going to be on a ream together. "I really am."

"It's okay Sakura-chan," replied Naruto. In all honesty, he still had what was said on his mind. Perhaps he did annoy Sakura too much.

"I think we should get back. We're supposed to meet our sensei soon," replied Sakura, just trying to move on from the rather painful first conversation their team just had.

Back in the academy, one by one, the sensei's came to collect their teams. Within 10 minutes of the designated time, all the sensei's had collected their teams. All the teams were off learning cool ninja stuff with their senseis…all of them except team 7.

"Naruto! Just sit down!" shouted Sakura. It had been nearly two hours that Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had been sitting in awkward silence.

"Why is our sensei so damn late?!" exclaimed the restless blonde. Before anything else could be said, Naruto's mischievous mind was at work as he took an eraser from the board and wedged it into the door crack.

"Pfft…like a jonin would fall for that…" said Sasuke. Sakura was saying the same thing although Inner Sakura was anxiously waiting for their sensei to fall for the trap. A few minutes later and Sasuke was already eating his own words as a one-eyed jonin with gravity defying hair came walking through the door, causing the eraser to fall and bop him on the head.

Naruto was rolling on the ground, laughing, Sakura was denying all involvement, Inner Sakura was cheering, and Sasuke was seriously doubting the quality of this jonin.

"Hmm…How can I say this? My first impression is…" the jonin said, examining his team. "I don't like you guys." A wave of dread hung over the three before they were instructed to meet on the top of the school.

"Okay, let's begin with introducing yourself," said the jonin. "Why don't you tell your likes, dislikes, future dreams, hobbies, and things like that."

"Hey, why don't you introduce yourself first?" asked Naruto.

"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. My dreams…hmm…I guess I have a few hobbies." Team 7 deadpanned. All they had learned was his name. "Okay, you Blondie."

Naruto pouted at the nickname. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What I like is trying different kinds of ramen and what I hate is the three minutes for cup ramen to cook…"

"_Does he thing about only ramen?"_ thought Kakashi.

"I also dislike those who look down upon people for something out of their control," said Naruto.

"_Hmm…So I take it he knows,"_ thought Kakashi, referring to the Kyuubi.

"As for my dream, I'm going to surpass all the Hokages and become the greatest Hokage myself! –ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto. "As for hobbies, I like pulling pranks."

"Okay, you next broody," said Kakashi, chuckling at the scowl on Sasuke's face.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And what I have really isn't a dream, but rather an ambition. I'm going to resurrect my clan and kill a certain someone," said Sasuke.

"_He better not mean me…" _thought Naruto.

"And as for you, Pinky," said Kakashi.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is…Well the person I like is…And uhm my dream for the future..." Sakura said all while looking towards Sasuke as she blushed and giggled. "What I dislike…is Na-"

Sakura stopped herself as she remembered her promise to try and be a little nicer to Naruto. "I don't like Ino-pig! And my hobby…" Sakura started to giggle again.

"_Well this is certain an interesting group. And I wonder what this thing the Hokage wanted to talk to me about tomorrow regarding Naruto is,"_ thought Kakashi. "So that's it for introductions. Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi. We're going to do something with just the four of us…survival training."

"Why is our first duty training? We've had enough training at the academy!" replied Sakura.

"This isn't any normal training. I'll be your opponent," said Kakashi.

"What kind of training is it then?" asked Naruto.

"Well, out of 27 graduates, there are only 9 that will be chosen to become genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%," said Kakashi. The expressions on everyone's faces were priceless.

"BUT WE WORKED SO HARD! THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF GRADUATING?!" shouted Naruto.

"That was just to select those who have the chance to become genin," replied Kakashi. "And tomorrow, you'll have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have. Oh, and skip breakfast…You might throw up if you don't." With that, Kakashi handed them all a sheet with the details of the test before leaving the three of his genin hopefuls.

* * *

Later that night,

Naruto had just got done punishing a stuffed pillow that looked a lot like a scarecrow. "Right! I'm so ready for the test tomorrow!" exclaimed Naruto. "I wonder what kind of test this is going to be. I wish I knew. If only there was a way to figure out what Kakashi-sensei was going to do with us tomorrow."

...

"Damnit!" shouted Naruto before he sat himself down on his bed, assuming a meditative pose. It took almost 30 minutes for Naruto to focus his dojutsu in order to see into the next day. After seeing himself tied to a log, Naruto stopped the vision and began to actually prepare for the next day.

* * *

Both Sasuke and Sakura showed up at the training ground a 7:00 in the morning. "Where is Naruto? Does he really want to fail that badly that he didn't even bother showing up?" asked Sakura. After about 20 minutes they had realized that not only their sensei, but also their other teammate was late.

Around 8:30, Naruto finally showed, seeing a glaring Sakura and Sasuke just staring at him.

"What?" asked Naruto, merely tilting his head.

"Where were you?!" shouted Sakura.

"Well, Sensei's not going to show up for a little longer so I figured I wouldn't waste my time waiting for him to be late," replied Naruto.

"Really? How did you know he was going to be late though? What if he wasn't and you would have failed?" asked Sakura.

"Well, I figured that since he was two hours late yesterday, he'd be late today," said Naruto. "Besides, I stopped and got breakfast." With that, Naruto pulled out a few apples from his back pouch and handed them to Naruto and Sasuke.

"But I thought Kakashi-sensei said not to eat," replied Sakura.

"He _suggested_ not eating, but I'd rather be energized and ready to go than starving," replied Naruto.

"_The dobe actually makes sense for once,"_ thought Sasuke as he took a bite of the apple. _"But still…how did he know Kakashi was going to be late like this?"_

"Sakura-chan? Shouldn't you eat as well?" asked Naruto, pushing the apple towards Sakura.

"Umm…I'm actually on a diet, but thanks," Sakura replied.

"You absolutely sure?" prodded Naruto. "I mean it's just an apple and you won't be hungry all morning."

Sakura actually looked over towards Sasuke for an answer. "Just eat it already. Sensei could show at any moment."

About 30 minutes later, Kakashi finally showed.

"You're late!"

"Yeah, yeah…" said Kakashi, shaking them off as he set an alarm clock down upon the stump. He then held up a pair of bells. "Here are two bells, your task is to take these from me before time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon, don't get lunch. And I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you."

"_So that's why he said not to eat,"_ thought Sakura, now glad she actually ate that apple. However, looking at his team, Kakashi noticed the lack of hunger in them.

"_Did these guys actually not take my warning?"_ thought Kakashi. _"Oh well, it's not like they'll pass anyways." _"You only have to get one bell and since there are only two of them, at least one of you will definitely be tied to a post, and…the person who doesn't get a bell fails and will be sent back, meaning at least one of you will be sent back to the Academy."

"If you want, you can use shuriken and kunais. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill," said Kakashi.

"But you'll be in danger!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser! We'll definitely kill you!" taunted Naruto.

"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. We'll ignore mister dead last and start when I say…" said Kakashi.

The 'Dead Last' comment was really irking Naruto on as the blonde grabbed a kunai and prepared to throw it into the jonin's smug mouth. Before he knew it, Kakashi had moved behind Naruto, grabbed the kunai, and held it to the back of Naruto's head.

"Calm down. I haven't said start yet," said Kakashi. For the first time since meeting him, Team 7 was actually impressed with the speed at which the jonin moved at. "Well, it seems you're ready to come at me with the intent to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me? Hmm…maybe I'm actually beginning to like you guys. Okay, begin!"

With that, all three of them darted off to take cover in the woods, all except…

"COME HERE AND FIGHT ME!" declared Naruto, earning a sweat drop from everyone.

"Umm…you're a little bit off…" said Kakashi.

"_Heh, we'll just see who's talking when I'm through with you. You won't even know what hit you. I suppose I'll play for a little,"_ thought Naruto, recalling the fight from the last night. "The only thing off is your hair cut!"

Naruto charged Kakashi but backed off as Kakashi pulled out a weapon, cleverly disguised as an orange book titled Icha Icha Paradise. Well, it wasn't really a weapon, but Kakashi still saw it as a way to get into Naruto's head.

"Shinobi fighting lesson #1…taijutsu," said Kakashi. "What's wrong? Hurry and attack me!"

"But…Hey? What's with that book?" asked Naruto, trying to fake the surprise, but not having any trouble with the disappointment part.

"I just wanted to know what happens next. But don't worry, it won't make a difference against your guys," said Kakashi calmly as he read his book.

"That's it! I'm going to kick your ass!" shouted Naruto as he charged at Kakashi, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks that were all effortlessly blocked. Naruto made a sweeping kick at Kakashi's head only for the jonin to disappear and then reappear behind him, his hands in a tiger seal.

"A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind, Baka," said Kakashi.

"What?" a surprised Sakura asked to herself. "His hand position? He's going to use ninjutsu against Naruto?"

"_No way, is that the fire seal?"_ thought Sasuke. _"This guy's totally serious."_

"NARUTO! RUN AWAY! YOU'RE GOING TO GET KILLED!" Sakura shouted, trying to warn Naruto.

"What?" asked a frantic Naruto, turning his head.

"Too late," smirked Kakashi (Well if you could see beneath his mask he was smirking).

On the outside, Naruto was sweating, but on the inside…_"I can't believe I've let it get this far, but this is where I get serious!"_ with that, Naruto's eyes took on the twelve-point star of the Shiroigan and a murderous glint appeared in Kakashi's eye.

"Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi!" Kakashi shouted as he thrust his fingers forward, his target…Naruto's ass.

Just as Kakashi's fingers made contact with Naruto's bottom, the orange gennin disappeared in a flash of smoke, leaving behind a log…with an explosive note attached.

Kakashi's one eye widened as the note exploded violently. From their vantage points, both Sakura and Sasuke were amazed at what had just transpired. Had Kakashi just fallen for another of Naruto's traps?

The explosive note had gone off too soon for Kakashi to get a Kawarimi (Replacement technique). He had jumped backwards in hopes of getting away from the epicenter of the blast, but the blast was enough to force back even more, closer to the trees.

"_Well that clearly was unexpected. Perhaps there's something more to this one…"_ Kakashi thought. He had seen the faint grin on Naruto's face just the very moment before the Kawarimi of Naruto's kicked in.

As Kakashi came to a halt, there was a faint rustle in the trees behind him as dozens of Naruto clones all leapt out of the trees and rushed the jonin before he could regain his footing. Before Kakashi knew it, the clones were literally on top of him, trying to punch the living daylights out of the one-eyed scarecrow. However, Kakashi wasn't a jonin for nothing and he forced some room between the clones and himself. _"Shadow clones…So the rumors about him using that jutsu in the graduation exam were true. Still…"_ Kakashi just grinned.

Both Sakura and Sasuke were actually amazed that the supposed 'Dead Last' had managed to form over 30 clones, and not just the illusionary kind. Pulling out a kunai, Kakashi quickly went to work fending off the clones until only one remained…the real one. As Naruto charged, Kakashi landed a swift kick into Naruto's stomach as he slid back into the creek and disappeared beneath the surface.

Looking down at his side, Kakashi giggled as he noticed both bells at his side still. Not caring anymore, he returned his attention to his book, wondering if Naruto would make a return appearance, or if it was someone else's turn.

"_Naruto…"_ Sakura sighed. She had actually gotten excited watching Naruto take on Kakashi-sensei like that and for a faint moment, she actually thought the blonde could do it and take a bell.

From up in his perch, Sasuke immediately saw that the jonin had just lowered his guard and threw a barrage of kunai and shuriken at Kakashi, clocking him in the side of the head. Unfortunately, Kakashi turned into nothing more than a log filled with blades and Sasuke suddenly kicked into full gear, realizing he had been figured out.

"_Damn…A Kawarimi, and now he knows where I am…"_ thought Sasuke as he quickly took off. Sasuke had taken the bait and fallen for Kakashi's trap.

Seeing this as well, Sakura was immediately running as well, not wanting to get separated from Sasuke. _"Sasuke-kun…Where is he? Could Kakashi-sensei already have gotten him? No, Sasuke-kun wouldn't let that happen to him."_ Suddenly, Sakura's attention was captured by an aloof Kakashi standing below the tree she was in. She let out a held breath as she realized that Kakashi hadn't noticed her.

"Sakura, behind you…" a voice called out and surprised, Sakura turned around to find the weird-haired jonin. Making a quick hand sign, and Sakura was immediately wrapped in a shroud of leaves.

As the leaves cleared, Sakura looked frantically around for Kakashi-sensei.

"Sakura…help…me…" groaned Sasuke as he collapsed against the side of a nearby tree. A horrified look shot across Sakura's face as she gazed upon Sasuke's body that had a massive number of kunai and shuriken sticking out of him. Breathing heavily, Sasuke finally dropped over…dead, and Sakura began tearing up.

"SASUKEEE!"

"Hmm…I think that was a bit too much," said Kakashi as he read the next page in his book. "Shinobi Fighting Lesson #2…Genjutsu. Sakura easily fell for it."

Dashing through the trees, Sasuke eyed an unresponsive form of Sakura, practically foaming at the mouth. He immediately detected that she had suffered the effects of a genjutsu. _"Genjutsu…a form of hypnotism, she'd fallen for that, but…"_ Sasuke leapt down into a clearing.

"Say that after you get a bell," said Kakashi. "Well well, the village's _most powerful clan_, the Uchiha Clan. This could be interesting."

The battle began with a quick flick of Sasuke's wrist and a few shuriken flew towards Kakashi. Kakashi easily dodged, mocked Sasuke's futile efforts, and realized that it was a trap. Kakashi was forced to dodge a barrage of knives that had come from the trap which Sasuke had triggered with one of his shuriken. As Kakashi came to a halt, he noticed Sasuke striking out at him with his foot. Kakashi blocked it with easy, but Sasuke adjusted his position and struck again, causing Kakashi to grab his hand. Using Kakashi's own body as leverage, Sasuke swung as he reached for a bell. Just as his hand touched the bell, Kakashi threw him away, bell-less.

"_What a guy…I didn't even have time to read my book,"_ thought Kakashi.

"Damnit, so that's what this test it about…" said Naruto as he hopped down from a tree he was sitting upon. "There's maybe an hour or so left in this test. I've gotta get Sakura-chan and Sasuke to work with me. Next time, I shouldn't stop the vision until it's really over. And with that, Naruto was off to find his two teammates, a slight jingle coming from his back pouch.

"I have to acknowledge that you are different from the other two…" said Kakashi before he began to notice that Sasuke was forming some hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! (Fire-release: Great Fireball Jutsu)" Inhaling a deep breath, Sasuke prepared to unleash his ninjutsu.

"What?!" exclaimed Kakashi. _"A genin shouldn't have enough chakra to perform that jutsu!"_ Before Kakashi knew it, he was engulfed in a large fireball.

Sasuke smirked, but it was quickly wiped from his face as all that was in place of the giant fireball was a crater. _"Where is he? In the air? No. On the side? Where could he be?"_

"Below you," a voice called out to Sasuke's surprise. "Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth-release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique)"

Sasuke was unable to react has Kakashi's hands popped out of the ground, grabbed his ankles, and dragged him shoulder deep into the ground.

"Shinobi fighting lesson #3…ninjutsu," lessoned Kakashi. "Well, you're already way further than the others. But hey, they say an exposed nail should be hammered in…haha."

"Damn you!" cursed Sasuke.

"Hehe…Instead of just wasting time trying to get a bell…I can just hide and eat all the food now!" exclaimed Naruto as he grabbed the two bento boxes sitting on top of a stone located on the training ground.

"Hey buddy…" smiled Kakashi as he appeared atop the stone. "What do you think you're doing?"

Sasuke looked around, trying to find someone who could dig him out of the ground. Moments later, Sakura came dashing out of the bush, freezing the moment she saw Sasuke as only a head sticking out of the ground. She passed out…

Sasuke sighed, but before he could mutter something to himself, another person arrived.

"Need some help there?" grinned Naruto as he got to work digging Sasuke out of the ground followed by waking Sakura up.

"There's not much time left…" said Sasuke. "I'm going again."

"Sasuke-kun, you're still going after a bell?" asked Sakura.

"I already touched one…next time I'll get it," said Sasuke.

"_This is bad…There's no way now I can get a bell. At this rate, I'll be separated from Sasuke-kun,"_ thought a worried Sakura. "You know, there's not much time left…there's always next time…"

"Or we could actually do what this test was meant for," spoke Naruto.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Why would we be put into teams of three only for two of us to pass?" asked Naruto.

"I don't have time to think on such questions. I have to get stronger and surpass HIM…the one I need to kill," scoffed Sasuke.

"And that's exactly the attitude that will cause us to fail," said Naruto. "There's an answer to passing this test…teamwork."

Suddenly, both Sakura and Sasuke realized what Naruto was getting at. "Didn't we learn back in the academy that ninja worked in teams?" asked Naruto. Now Sakura and Sasuke couldn't believe that it was actually Naruto lecturing them. In reality, Naruto was just repeating the lecture that he heard Kakashi giving them in his vision. "This test was meant to make us fight amongst ourselves with only two bells."

They couldn't believe it, but Sakura and Sasuke actually saw the logic in Naruto's words. "So we need to work together to get the bells?" asked Sasuke. "Fine, but we don't…"

RING!

Kakashi sat atop one of the posts, the same one Naruto now found himself tied to. "Wait…If Naruto's there…" Sakura said as she came in the clearing with Sasuke and surprisingly Naruto. Kakashi turned to the grinning Naruto who just disappeared.

"_Shadow clone. There's definitely more to this kid…"_ thought Kakashi. "Okay, seeing as none of you got a bell, up against the po-."

A jingle rang through the training ground as Naruto pulled a bell out of his back pouch. Everyone's eyes (or eye in Kakashi's case) widened.

Kakashi looked down at the two bells on his belt to see one disappear. _"He disguised a shadow clone as a bell and switched it with a real one…probably when he tried to mob me with shadow clones. With that many, even I would have trouble keeping track of all of them, especially without my Sharingan."_

Sasuke's reaction was more surprised than Kakashi's contemplating look. _"H-how? How did he get one?"_

"I switched it out with a shadow clone when you were fighting off fifty of them, Kakashi-sensei," explained Naruto.

"Okay, I guess Naruto can eat while the rest of you get tied to a post," said Kakashi before he grabbed Sakura and Sasuke and tied them to the posts. "Well, let's see now. I would say that there's no need for all of you to go back to the Academy."

"Wait, we pass?" asked Sakura. _"But all I did was pass out."_

Naruto however, knew what was coming. "In fact, Naruto will be the only one going back to the Academy. The two of you…should just quit as shinobi."

A horrified look shot across Sakura's face and Sasuke just glared at Kakashi. "And Naruto, the only reason you got a bell was because I solely underestimated you, and by the time I had realized it, you had already blown a log up in my face. I promise you I won't make that same mistake again."

"Still, sending you back to the Academy is a hard thing to do because in reality, you're all just punks who don't deserve to call yourselves ninja," said Kakashi. "Why do you think that you were divided into three man teams?"

"So Naruto was right when he said this test was about teamwork?" asked Sakura, slightly surprised.

"I see one of you figured it out. Too bad it's too late," said Kakashi. "In the real world, one or more of you would be dead right now. Had you three have worked together from the start, Naruto wouldn't be the only one with a bell, or in real cases, he'd be the only one alive."

A look of dread swept across everyone's faces. "And Naruto, in a real situation, I wouldn't have underestimated you. I would have just killed you from the first moment you attacked me. You only got that bell out of sheer luck."

"_Pfft, that's what you think…"_ scoffed Naruto mentally.

"In these duties, you will be risking your lives, and if you don't work together as a team, you WILL DIE," said Kakashi ominously before turning to the stone near the training posts. "Look at the number of names carved on this stone. These are all ninja who have been recognized as heroes of this village; however, they aren't just normal heroes…"

"They are all heroes who died in the line of duty," said Kakashi. Everyone's faces saddened. "The names of my two best friends are carved upon this stone."

"I'll tell you what…I'll give you guys one more chance to get the remaining bell form me, but I'll make it much tougher and I won't be underestimating any of you," said Kakashi. "Now Naruto, I'll give you an option. You can trade that bell of yours for some food, but if you take the food, you CANNOT give any to Sakura or Sasuke."

Naruto thought for a moment, or pretended to think. In reality, he already knew what was coming and what had to be done to pass. "Fine," said the blonde before tossing the bell to Kakashi, who handed Naruto some food in exchange.

As Kakashi left, Naruto opened the box and tried to ignore the stares of Sakura and Sasuke. While the apple breakfast helped, both had been expending their energy all morning and were starving by this point.

Quickly, Naruto cut the ropes binding his two teammates and set the box down between them.

"Naruto, why did you give up the bell?" asked Sasuke.

"Because, as a team, we need the food and energy more," replied Naruto. "Now let's eat quickly before Kakashi-sensei comes back."

"Naruto…how exactly did you get a bell from Kakashi?" asked Sasuke. "And what about yesterday in class when you knew you were going to be on my team? Or this morning when you knew Kakashi was going to be late or the 'no breakfast' was one of his tricks?"

"It's not something I want to talk about this moment. I promise I'll tell you, but let me tell you when I'm ready to talk about it," said Naruto. He didn't want to reveal his bloodline to them just yet. Sure they were his team and it would be a sign that he trusted them, but he still wasn't quite ready to show it.

"Oh come on Naruto…" urged Sakura.

"No, just leave it. He said he'll tell us, so we'll give him some time before we have to force it," said Sasuke. "Anyways, he's right. We need to eat if we're going to stand a chance against Kakashi."

A few moments passed as Team 7 began to scarf down the single bento box.

"Naruto, about yesterday…I really am sorry for what I said," said Sakura.

"I know. Perhaps I was a little annoying always asking you out as well. I promise I won't bother you as much anymore," said Naruto.

Sasuke sighed. "Just promise me you won't pull that stunt again, will you?" Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Then I'm sorry for the way I lashed out at you two earlier."

If anyone had known the arrogant nature that was associated with the Uchiha clan before they were massacred, they wouldn't have believed Sasuke was an Uchiha. I mean was he actually apologizing for once?

"No, it's fine Sasuke-kun. I never really knew how you or even Naruto felt," said Sakura.

Before any more could be said, Kakashi reappeared in front of them before examining the cut ropes, bento box, and grain of rice on the side of Sakura's mouth. **"I told you NOT TO FEED THEM! YOU GUYS…"**

Sakura and Sasuke both cowered in fear, and even though Naruto knew what was going to happen next he couldn't help but shiver slightly at the display Kakashi was putting on.

"Pass," said Kakashi.

3…2…1…

"WHAT?!" shouted Sakura.

"I said, you guys pass," smiled Kakashi. "You guys are the first. Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were just morons. A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes in the ninja world are called trash, but you know what? Those who don't look after their comrades are worse than trash."

"Right! That ends the training exercise. Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will begin it's true duties as ninja," said Kakashi, before he noticed a messenger bird circling above the training ground. Everyone looked at him curious as the bird landed on Kakashi's arm and he pulled a small scroll from its pouch on its leg.

"It appears as if I've been summoned to the Hokage," said Kakashi. "Naruto, he's also requesting you. We'll meet back here at 8:00 tomorrow."

* * *

Hokage's office,

"Ah Kakashi, Naruto-kun, I take it the training exercise went well?" asked Sarutobi as he took a smoke from his pipe, signaled for the ANBU to leave, and activated the privacy seals. "Kakashi, I'm sure you have some questions for Naruto-kun regarding the exercise."

Naruto immediately realized what this was about. He didn't need his bloodline to tell him that this was about his bloodline.

"Yes. Out there, in the training ground. You knew I was going to use the Sennen Goroshi, didn't you?" asked Kakashi. "I saw the look on your face the moment before you replaced yourself. Like I said, I underestimated you until you blew that log up in my face. You had that logged prepped for that _exact _moment."

"I take it that is why I'm here, Jiji?" asked Naruto.

"Yes. I feel it would be best for Kakashi to know considering he's going to be teaching you from now on. I also overheard your teammates asking about it and I agree with your decision to reveal it to them as well, but also understand that you want to wait a little," said the Hokage. "A team cannot function without trust and a member of the team needs to be able to entrust knowledge of their own abilities with their comrades for the team to function to its highest degree."

"So what is this little surprise?" asked Kakashi.

"Kakashi, as a jonin, and one of the few who I can say with the utmost confidence that I trust, you were granted access to some of the older village archives, including one that contained pieces of information regarding a very powerful and, once believed lost, bloodline," said the Sandaime before pointing to Naruto, who now had the Shoraigan active.

It took a lot to truly surprise Hatake Kakashi. The revelation that one of his students actually possessed the fabled Jikaton bloodline was way more than enough to cause the jonin's eye to nearly pop out of its socket.

"So that's how you knew, and not just the Sennen Goroshi too," said Kakashi.

* * *

-End Chapter-

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Well, there's the second chapter.**

**Within the first 24 hours or so of posting, this story had a pretty good reception I believe (23 reviews, 31 favorites, and 58 follows for an under 10k word story on the first day) so I'll continue on.**

**So, like how I normally start stories, I will be getting the first few chapters out of the way fairly quickly (Probably two or three more chapters) to get the story established as one with a bit more length and then I will slow things down as the story begins to develop more.**

**I'd like to say thank you to Ookami88 for the link to a better translation site. That issue has been solved but still bear with me on the translations. **

**As for the pairings, I've limited it down to about 3-4 potential candidates for Naruto. I'm still unsure and as I said, I'll develop the story first before adding in the pairings. **

**I guess that's it for now. Please review and let me know how the story's going. **

**PS: Should have the Uzumaki Tales and Rewriting the Past updated sometime this week. **


	4. The First Month

_**Chapter 3: The First Month**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Posted: Aug 6, 2013**

* * *

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry. I was on my way here when I suddenly became lost on the road of life…" said Kakashi, causing everyone to sweat drop.

"_Is this going to be a normal thing?"_ asked Naruto as he quietly activated his eyes. _"Wait, I don't need my dojutsu for this. He's been late three times out of three already…of course this is going to be a regular thing!"_

"So anyways, today we start our duties as shinobi of this village. The other day, you asked me why training was so important and that you thought you did enough of it in the academy," said Kakashi. "Well, I'll tell you now that a shinobi should never stop training if they hope to accomplish their goals. Therefore, we'll train for the mornings until lunch and then we'll do a mission. Sound good?"

No one really had any complaints…that was until Kakashi started them on some ridiculous teambuilding exercises.

If they thought those teambuilding exercises were lame, just wait until the mission that awaited them.

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi called out through the wireless radio.

"Five meters. I'm ready any time," called Sasuke.

"So am I."

"Me too."

"Okay. On my mark…Go!" Kakashi called out as the three genin dove out of their hiding place to capture their target.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Naruto.

"NYAAA!" screamed the cat which Naruto now had in a grapple.

"Ribbon on the left ear…are you sure this is the target Tora?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, we're sure," replied Sasuke.

"Good. Lost Pet "Tora" Retrieval Mission complete," said Kakashi as Naruto was busy getting his face torn up by a pair of cat claws.

Minutes later,

"Ohh my cute little Tora-chan! I was so worried!" squealed Madam Shinji, the wife of the Fire Damyio and the owner of Tora.

"_No wonder it ran away,"_ thought Sakura as she witnessed the strangling of the cat at the hands of its owner.

"_Hah! In your face you stupid cat!"_ exclaimed Naruto.

"Good job Team Kakashi, you are finished for today. Report back tomorrow for your mission," addressed the Hokage.

"Man that was a lame first mission! I thought being a ninja was all about saving princesses or battling other ninja," replied Naruto as they exited the room.

"Well, you've all gotta start somewhere," said Kakashi. "Now same place, same time tomorrow."

"Are we going to get a better mission tomorrow?" asked Naruto.

"Perhaps," said Kakashi before shunshining away.

"Well that was lame. Who's up for ramen?" asked Naruto.

"Fine, but only if you're treating," said Sakura. Sasuke just shrugged.

* * *

"Oi, Shikamaru!"

The lazy Nara yawned before turning around to see Team 7 walking towards him. He was with Chouji and a semi-reluctant Ino, who was still pouting about not being put on Sasuke's team, unlike her rival Sakura.

"Naruto? I see you guys made it through the test," said Shikamaru.

"We're going to grab ramen. Wanna join us and talk it over?" asked Naruto.

"Meh, why not," shrugged Shikamaru. Chouji had no complaints with ramen…or anything edible for that matter.

By the time Team 7 and Team 10 arrived at Ichiraku, Sakura and Ino were practically at each other's throats arguing over who got to sit next to Sasuke.

"I see, so you guys had to get bells from your sensei?" said Shikamaru.

"I bet Sasuke-kun got a bell within seconds of the test starting," said Ino, who was still fighting with Sakura over the seating.

"Actually, the only one who got a bell was the dobe over there," said Sasuke as he pointed to Naruto. _"And I'm still wondering how. There's something more about the Dobe. He said he'll tell us in time, so I'll give him a little longer before I push it some more."_

"Wow, way to go Naruto," congratulated Chouji.

"Yeah, and then he went ahead and traded the bell for lunch," said Sakura.

"Hmm…that sounds like a good trade to me," replied Chouji.

"Anything that deals with food is a good trade in your mind," said Ino.

"Yeah, but in the end it was all a trick to see if we could work together," said Naruto.

"Yeah, that's the trick to these tests. My dad told me all about them," said Chouji.

"So what did you guys have to do?" asked Sakura.

"Asuma-sensei had us navigate an obstacle course that we had to work together on to complete. There's a reason the three of us were put together on a team," explained Shikamaru. "Our families work well together and that's what Asuma-sensei wanted to see."

"I see. So what sort of mission did you get?" asked Sakura.

"Troublesome kids…" groaned Shikamaru.

"We were stuck babysitting a bunch of brats," sighed Ino.

"So you didn't get any sort of awesome mission either?" asked Naruto. "I think there's something fishy about these D-ranks. We were stuck catching a stupid cat!"

"Owch, that must have been a complete drag," said Shikamaru.

* * *

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Once again, Kakashi was two hours late to meet with his team. They had been together for over two weeks now and every day, it was the same exact story. Kakashi would be late, they would do some lame teambuilding exercise, and then get stuck with an even lamer mission.

"So today…" Kakashi was cut off.

"NO! WE DON'T WANT ANY STINKIN TEAMBUILDING EXERSICE! WE WANT TO LEARN SOME COOL NINJA SKILL!" declared Naruto as he just plopped himself down on top of one of the training posts. During Kakashi's tardiness, Naruto had taken it upon himself to ensure that what they were doing today wasn't what they had been doing for the past two weeks.

"So you want to learn a cool ninja skill?" asked Kakashi, as he just looked at them before making a smile with his eye. _"Well, they have been completing the teambuilding exercises, even if Naruto and Sasuke would tend to get a little competitive."_

"Okay fine," said Kakashi. "But, if I teach you a cool ninja skill, you will have to do two D-ranks today and no training as tomorrow will be all training."

Sighing, Team 7 accepted the proposition. Their D-ranks for the day…weeding a garden and picking up trash out of a river.

"_Man…today sucked,"_ thought Naruto as he made his way back from cleaning up the river. It was also a day like today when Naruto was thanking the stars for his bloodline as he nearly destroyed a woman's herb garden, thinking they were weeds, and almost fell off the waterfall in the river they were picking trash out of. _"I just hope what Kakashi-sensei has in store for us tomorrow is as awesome as he says it is…Hmm…I mean I could…No, he said it was a surprise…but what if it's lame…"_ For the rest of the night, Naruto was contemplating on checking if what Kakashi had in store for them was worth double-duty D-ranks. In the end, he decided to trust Kakashi this once, but if it was more lame team building exercises, he'd be keeping a much closer eye on Kakashi's plans for them.

The next day, a miracle happened. Kakashi wasn't 2 hours late. No, Kakashi was almost 3 hours late as he arrived to see three fuming genin glaring at him.

"Okay okay, just calm down you three," said Kakashi. "I promised you I'd teach you something and I will. First, tell me what you know about chakra."

Sakura was the first to speak, going into a detailed, textbook explanation on what chakra was and how it is used in the ninja world. "So Kakashi-sensei, what does that have to do with this super cool ninja skill you're going to teach us?"

"Well, what I'm going to be teaching you will help you with your chakra. More specifically, using your chakra for jutsus you may cast," said Kakashi. "What I'm going to teach you are a few chakra control exercises."

"So what exactly are these chakra control exercises used for?" asked Naruto, hoping this wasn't another lame teambuilding exercise.

Kakashi went into an explanation about how jutsus use chakra and how to optimize the chakra better by learning to control your chakra better. What really got Naruto's attention through was that the better your chakra control was, the easier it would be for you to learn and master jutsus.

"I'm going to teach you two chakra control exercises that have practical uses amongst ninja. The first of these exercises, which I estimate will take you the rest or the week at least, is tree climbing," said Kakashi.

"But we already know how to climb trees, Sensei," said Naruto.

"Yes, but can you climb trees without your hands?" asked Kakashi as he did a demonstration on a nearby tree, sticking his feet to the trunk and walking up the tree like nothing. Kakashi let out a slight giggle when he saw the looks on everyone's face. "Now, gather your chakra in the bottom of your feet and climb up a tree. This is also something you can do on your own time."

"You mean while we're waiting for you to help an old lady?" muttered Naruto.

"What was that?" asked Kakashi, pretending he didn't hear anything. "Anyways, this exercise will not only help with chakra control, but if you do this exercise long enough, stamina as well. If you can properly gauge the amount of chakra for this exercise, you can also properly gather the proper amount of chakra for a jutsu. Theoretically, if you can master this exercise, you can potentially master any jutsu."

"Now, take a kunai and use it to mark your progress up the tree. I suggest getting some momentum and running up the tree first," said Kakashi as he threw three kunai to his team.

"Right! I'm going to be the first one up to the top of the tree, -ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto, receiving a look from Sasuke.

"Che, like a dobe like you could ever win…" retorted Sasuke. The challenge was on. In one motion, all three of them began running at a tree with Naruto taking one step onto the tree before slipping off…not enough chakra.

Sasuke on the other hand, had the opposite problem as the tree buckled under his step…too much chakra.

Sakura on the other hand…

"Hey, this is pretty easy!" chirped Sakura, who was sitting atop a very high branch of the tree.

"_What? This exercise was much harder than I thought, but how did she?" _asked Sasuke to himself.

"Hmm, so it appears I was right," said Kakashi. Everyone looked to Kakashi for an explanation. "Out of the three of you, Sakura has the least amount of chakra; however, as a result she has the greatest degree of chakra control."

Kakashi then turned to Sakura. "That was exceptionally good for a first try, Sakura. Continue doing that for the time being and it'll help greatly with your stamina." Sakura nodded and smiled at her sensei's praise before Kakashi jumped down from his branch.

"Naruto, Sasuke, both of you have much larger reserves than her, making it harder for you to control that larger reserve. Keep doing this until you can reach the top and then we'll move onto the next step," instructed Kakashi. Well, I'll leave you all to it.

"And he just left us…" sighed Naruto as Kakashi had done just that…left them to themselves.

"Yup…" replied Sasuke. Suddenly, the two locked eyes and were back at it, trying to work their way up the trees.

* * *

Days passed with Naruto and Sasuke finally managing to reach the top of the tree at the end of the third. Naruto had tried to get an edge on his newly proclaimed rival by using his dojutsu one night to see if he could find the trick in the tree climbing, kind of like he did with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Unfortunately, in his vision he accomplished the exercise by trial and error, without the instruction of the Forbidden Scroll, which he supposedly saw. Sadly, he was on his own for this one.

On the third day of the exercise, Sasuke succeeded in defeating Naruto, but only by one attempt. When Sasuke made it to the top, Naruto followed on the next attempt. This only served to further fire their developing rivalry. As it stood, the score was 1-1 with Sasuke winning the tree climbing and Naruto doing better on the bell test.

Sakura, who had completed the exercise within the first hours of being assigned it, found it difficult to keep up with her teammates who proved to have superior chakra reserves and stamina. Still, Kakashi had advised her to perform that exercise until the point of exhaustion to build up her stamina and already she was beginning to feel a slight increase in her overall stamina.

After their one full day of training, they were back to rotating the day between training (which Kakashi was late to) and D-ranks. Thankfully with the training, they all had something to practice while waiting 2 hours for their AWOL sensei.

About a week from when they started tree climbing, Kakashi took them out of the trees and towards the stream that flowed through the training ground. "I think you three have the hang of tree climbing so I'll move onto the second exercise, water walking." Kakashi gave an explanation that while tree-climbing was about maintaining a certain amount of chakra, water-walking focused on releasing the chakra at a constant rate. He also gave a quick explanation on the exercise itself. "Okay Sakura, you go first."

Giving a quick and slightly hesitant nod, Sakura gathered chakra into her feet and began to expel it at a constant rate. Taking her first step onto the water, Sakura slowly shifted her weight onto the surface, hoping it would hold and she would remain dry. Thankfully, as she transferred all of her weight to the foot on the water, she didn't fall in although it was unsteady as she carefully took a few steps out onto the stream.

"_Well what do you know? To get it on the first go, her chakra control's already further than I expected,"_ thought Kakashi.

"Wow! Way to go Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto. Even Sasuke had a slight look of surprise and approval on his face. This caused Sakura to blush and to eventually lose her concentration, causing her to plummet into the wet water. As she surfaced, it was pretty easy to tell that the pink-haired kunoichi was slightly embarrassed.

The rest of that week passed with Sakura mastering the exercise within the first day. Naruto and Sasuke both took a few extra days and in the end, like the tree climbing, it was Sasuke edging Naruto out by one attempt.

By the end of the second week since they began chakra control exercises (it had been nearly a month since they became Team 7) and it was becoming obvious between Naruto and Sasuke that they were getting more and more irritated by the nature of the D-ranks.

It came to the end of the day and Naruto was sitting at Ichiraku, enjoying a large bowl of beef ramen when his sensei came and took a seat next to him.

"I'll have what he's having, only not quite as much," said Kakashi, ordering a bowl.

"Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?" asked a confused Naruto, who still had noodles in his mouth.

"Yo," waved Kakashi. "I was walking along, contemplating the meaning of life when I suddenly ended up here with no recollection of what I was doing before."

Normally, Naruto would have practically strangled the jonin at his use of another ridiculous excuse, but Naruto's response was slightly different, and unexpected. "Well of course you ended up here. The meaning of life is to enjoy as much ramen as possible." Kakashi actually got a small laugh out of that.

"Actually, I'm here to talk to you about 'you know what'," said Kakashi, grabbing Naruto's interest. "I've noticed that you haven't been using that special jutsu of yours recently."

"I mean, I practice it a bit at home and stuff, but when I'm with the team, I can't really activate it without worrying that Sakura-chan or Teme might find out," replied Naruto.

"I figured as much. You're not quite sure you want to tell them yet," said Kakashi.

"I do, but what Hokage-jiji told me, about keeping my ability a secret…" replied Naruto.

"He also mentioned that you SHOULD share it with those you work closely with," replied Kakashi. "Remember? That's why it was revealed to me, although I would have liked to know BEFORE you blew up that log on me…"

"Hey in my defense, a ninja's gotta have his secrets," replied Naruto.

"True, but keeping secrets from your comrades, especially those you trust the most, can also have it's downfalls," replied Kakashi. "Let me ask you this…do you trust them?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Of course I trust them," replied Naruto almost instantaneously. "Sakura-chan, sure she might have not been the nicest person to me back in the academy, but during these past weeks, she's tried to help me out quite a bit with the chakra control exercises. If it wasn't for her, then I wouldn't have gotten them as fast as I could have. I know we had some rough times in the beginning, but we decided to move on. I trusted her not to do what she did on our first day as a team and so far, she's seemed to have completely let it go. As for Sasuke…I think I might have actually figured him out. In the Academy, I was always jealous of him. All everyone did was talk about how great he was and all the girls went crazy for him, and all he did was ignore them. I just wanted an ounce of the attention he got. But these past few weeks…"

"I've seen it too. I knew a while back that I was going to be the one teaching Sasuke. I have something that the village hopes he will awaken very soon," said Kakashi before he revealed his Sharingan to Naruto. "The Sharingan, the Uchiha clan's famed dojutsu. I got it as a gift from my friend, Uchiha Obito before he passed away in the war. As it stands, I'm the only one in the village with a Sharingan."

"Which is why they wanted you to teach Sasuke, right?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. So I've been keeping an eye on him over the past few years and I've noticed it to. Everyone just seems to throw themselves at him, giving him little gifts and favors, hoping to mooch off the wealth and power of the Uchiha clan when Sasuke finally gets around to reviving it. However, I strongly doubt that's what Sasuke wanted. You on the other hand, have given Sasuke exactly what he wanted…someone to compete against…someone who can push him…someone to call a rival."

"He's lonely. He's wanted someone to acknowledge him ever since that day. As funny as it sounds, I think I get how he's feeling. Just after hearing that his family was murdered, I remember one day that I was walking along the edge of a river when I saw him, just sitting on a dock. He looked like he could have used someone then who really understood him and now that I think about it, I probably should have just sat down next to him," explained Naruto. "I also entrusted both of them with the fact that I have some sort of secret ability and they haven't pressed me on it yet. If Sasuke was even half the arrogant bastard I had originally thought, then he probably would have threatened me to show it. And Sakura hasn't even once pushed the subject either. In fact, you've been the one putting the most pressure on me!"

"Heh, sorry but I honestly think that it's about time for you to come clean. If you do, then this would mean you can actually start practicing with it and getting used to using the future sight in combat," said Kakashi. "I'm sure I might even be able to give you some pointers on how to fight when you know what's coming."

"Huh? How would you do that?" asked Naruto.

"The Sharingan. If it's been trained enough, the Sharingan can predict the moves of your opponent, although not quite to the potential that your ability can," said Kakashi.

"Really? So that means that if Sasuke gets his Sharingan-thingy and the two of us are fighting, we can just look at each other and figure out who's going to win?" Naruto asked. Kakashi couldn't help but fault at this faulty conclusion of Naruto's.

"It wouldn't happen like that, although that would be…interesting to say the least," said Kakashi. "I also wanted to tell you one last reason why I think you should tell them some time soon."

"I plan on requesting a more difficult mission for us tomorrow," said Kakashi.

"Really?! Is it going to be something more than these stinking chores?!" shouted Naruto with a lot of frustration in his voice.

"Yeah yeah. I'm telling you now because it's obvious that you'd probably just go home and try to look into what mission we have for tomorrow. Kind of like the other day when you 'borrowed' Akamaru to scare Tora," said Kakashi.

"Hey, that dumb cat had it coming," shrugged Naruto. Kakashi sighed.

"Anyways, I'm going to request an easier C-rank for us tomorrow. It's something that will ease you guys into more appropriate missions for ninja, which means that encounters with hostile enemies are likely," said Kakashi. "My one piece of advice when dealing with an enemy is you never know what will happen."

"But I can just see what they're going to do," said Naruto.

"That's not what I'm talking about. In order to see what's going to happen, you need to use your eyes. But if you use them, there's a chance that both Sasuke and Sakura could see them and without them knowing about it, could add another variable that you never saw coming until just that moment," said Kakashi.

"Hmm…I see. I think I get what you're saying," said Naruto. "I think I'll tell them. After the mission if I don't find a good time to do it during the mission."

"That sounds fine, and thank you Naruto," replied Kakashi before he got up and left. A little later, Naruto realized the 'thank you' wasn't for agreeing to reveal his bloodline to his team, but rather for the bowl of ramen that Kakashi had 'forgotten' to pay for.

* * *

"Okay Team 7 your next duty is…either babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, or…oh it looks like Tora ran away again." Everyone on Team 7 paled when the Hokage mentioned that the infamous 'Catch Tora' mission was back on the rosters.

"NO! NO! NO! I don't want any more lame chores!" declared Naruto, making an 'X' with his arms.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respects, I was actually thinking that my team was ready for a slightly more difficult mission," said Kakashi, stepping forward. Sasuke's head perked up at the mention of a more difficult mission.

"What? But the've only been genin for maybe a month now! It's usually 4-6 months before a team is given a C-rank mission," argued Iruka. "And in rare cases, maybe two months."

"Well I think my team's an extremely rare case. Besides, we've foreseen that a simple C-rank mission shouldn't pose any problems," said Kakashi, who slightly tilted his head in Naruto's direction, earning a sigh out of Iruka.

"Are you certain Kakashi?" asked the Hokage.

"I am," replied Kakashi. "I've done things solo that are much more difficult than a C-rank and should in the very rare chance that we get in over our heads, I'll be able to cover for my team."

"Very well, if you truly believe they are ready, I'll start you out with an easy one," said the Hokage as he sifted through scrolls on his desk. "Here we go, I'll give you a low-ranked protection mission of a certain individual. Send in the client."

"What's this? A bunch of super brats?" called out an obviously drunken older man who smelled strongly of sake and had a pack on his back. "Especially the short one with the stupid looking face…"

"Haha…who's the shortest one with the stupid face," laughed Naruto. In a matter of seconds, he would regret not looking into this event earlier with his Shoraigan.

One angered Naruto and a death threat later…

"I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me with super protection until I can get back to my country and complete my super bridge!" exclaimed the old man.

"_This guy's about as messed up in the head as that Time guy was. He says 'super' about as much as Time said 'time'," _thought Naruto.

On their way out of the mission hall, Team 7 ran into Team 8.

"Careful, 'Catch Tora' is back on the roster," Naruto said to Kiba as all of Team 8 now paled at the mentioning of THAT mission.

"I think we'll come back for our mission after lunch…" said Team 8's jonin instructor, a red-eyed kunoichi by the name of Yuuhi Kurenai.

Kiba and Akamaru let out a sigh of relief as they turned to exit the mission hall. All the while, the gaze of a certain young pale-eyed girl not being able to break away from the bright orange object of its desires.

As everyone got outside the building, shouting could be heard from the mission hall.

"YOSH! WE WILL REUNITE POOR TORA-CHAN WITH HER PRECIOUS OWNER BEFORE NOON OR ELSE I'LL DO 1000 PUSH UPS! AND IF I CANNOT DO THOSE, THEN I WILL DO 100 LAPS AROUND KONOHA!"

"LEE! YOUR YOUTHFUL SPIRIT BURNS BRIGHTLY THIS FINE MORNING!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"Everyone. Run. Now" Kakashi warned. The panicked expression on the jonin's face was enough convincing for everyone to heed his warning. Just as everyone was at a safe distance, a powerful blast of youthful light exploded from the room as a wave of immense passion crashed through the window. Yeah, the mission hall wasn't the most ideal place for an ocean sunset.

* * *

"Wow, this is the first time away from the village!" exclaimed Naruto as he frantically took in the sights from just outside the massive wooden gates of Konoha.

"Pst…Am I really going to be safe with this brat?" asked Tazuna, only serving to irritate Naruto.

About 10 minutes later, Naruto declaring that he was going to be the best ninja, Tazuna questioning Naruto's abilities, and a few death threats later, Team 7 had departed for Nami no Kuni.

On the way to the wave, Kakashi gave a brief explanation of the Five Great Nations and the hidden villages, also explaining how Nami, a smaller island country, didn't have a ninja village.

A few hours in their travels passed with the team guarding Tazuna in a formation when just ahead of them, a small puddle came into view.

"_That's odd. What would a puddle be doing here, especially since it hasn't rained in days,"_ thought Kakashi. He brushed the thought to the back of his head for the moment, but looked over towards Naruto, who looked to have an almost panicked expression on his face.

Upon coming upon that puddle, Naruto's Shoraigan immediately activated, warning him of the dangers ahead…two ninja hiding in the puddle. Naruto immediately looked over to Kakashi, but the jonin gave him a sign to calm down and that

"_What was that?"_ Sasuke asked himself in surprise, he had caught the blonde's change in expression followed by a momentary change in his teammate's eye. Sasuke didn't have much more time to think as two clawed ninja wearing masks and headbands of Kirigakure with a slash mark through the headbands.

In an instant, they were upon the travelers, wrapping the most experienced in the group up in chains.

"WHAT?!" everyone else's eyes lit up in shock at the events that had just transpired in the blink of an eye.

"One down." In one quick motion, the two attackers pulled on the chains, shredding Kakashi to pieces.

That very moment, Naruto's dojutsu had activated itself out of response of Naruto's troubled situation.

"_Two down," the attacking ninja said before swiping at Naruto with their claws. Frozen, Naruto barely managed to move his hand to block, getting cut in the process before Sasuke could throw a kunai and shuriken to pin their chain to a nearby tree. Kicking the two attackers in the face, Sasuke sent them stumbling back before they released their chain and continued their assault at…Tazuna. Sasuke had saved the day, but all Naruto had done was frozen at the sight of the attackers._

"_No, there's no way I'm letting Sasuke-teme take all the fun! I can do this, -ttebayo!"_ Naruto thought to himself, steeling his resolve. There was no way he was going to freeze up like he had done in that vision.

The two ninja moved in to attack Naruto, swiping at his head with their claws. Naruto ducked underneath the swipe as the claw passed overhead and Sasuke's kunai and shuriken came sailing through the air, catching the chain and pinning it to the tree.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" exclaimed Naruto, forming a single clone that was squatting just beneath the two ninja. Sasuke kicked the back of their heads as he landed, timing his attack just perfectly with the double uppercut Naruto and his clone had delivered to the two ninja's faces.

The two ninja stumbled backwards as Naruto stood up, joined at the side by Sasuke who just sent the blonde a smirk. Sasuke turned his attention back to their attackers, but not before taking in a quick glimpse in the change of Naruto's eyes. They weren't their normal blue and instead had a whitish- purple twelve-point star in them.

Both attackers rushed Naruto and Sasuke before breaking of at blurring speeds as they made their way towards their true target…the bridge builder. Naruto had seen this and moved to intercept the one closest to him; however, Sasuke didn't have the blessing of knowing what would happen and his ninja was the one who made it through their defense.

Naruto had managed to delay his attacker for just a moment, but the ninja's speed was still too great for him to deal with and before Naruto could react, both ninja were upon the bridge builder.

Sakura jumped in the way with a kunai at the ready just as the claws of the attacking ninja closed in on their target. However; before any blood could be drawn, both ninja were knocked unconscious by Kakashi as he caught them in a head lock.

"Kakashi-sensei!" cheered Sakura.

"_Pft…show off,"_ scoffed Sasuke.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief before turning to where Kakashi had once stood, only to see a shredded log.

"Nice job all three of you," smiled Kakashi. _"And now for the questions."_

"Naruto, what's up with your eyes?" asked Sakura in shock as she pointed to Naruto's eyes. Naruto cursed himself as he realized the Shoraigan was still active.

"You have a dojutsu, don't you Dobe?" inquired Sasuke.

Naruto sighed. He had been hoping to put off explaining this to his team for a bit longer but there was no hiding it now. Before answering Sasuke's question, he turned to Kakashi. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"No. I asked for a C-rank mission. These are the Demon Brothers of Kirigakure no Sato. They are chunin-level ninja known to keep fighting no matter what," said Kakashi. "On a C-rank mission, there shouldn't be any confrontation with other ninja. There's something else going on and I intend to find out what. I'll be back in a little bit but when I come back, you and I, Tazuna, are going to have a little chat."

With that Kakashi took the Demon Brothers back into the woods to have a 'little chat'.

"So am I right, Dobe?" pushed Sasuke.

"Yeah," replied Naruto.

"Dojutsu?" asked Sakura, trying to think back upon the lectures from the academy.

"They're eye techniques," answered Sasuke. "Dojutsus are typically associated with a clan, kind of like my clan was known for the Sharingan. There's also another clan, the Hyugas, that have a dojutsu as well, the Byakugan. They're special bloodlines that give their bearers special abilities."

"Wait, you said your clan has this Sharingan dojutsu?" Sakura asked. "Does that mean you have it?"

Sasuke groaned at this. "Mine hasn't activated yet…"

"Well, maybe Naruto knows. I mean it looks like his is active," said Sakura.

"They are all different. The Sharingan only shows itself under certain conditions while the Hyugas Byakugan awoken at a certain age," said Sasuke. "Naruto's…so what is your dojutsu anyways? I don't think I've seen that one."

"It's called the Shoraigan. As to how it activated, I don't have the slightest clue. On the day of graduation I started having these strange visions of the future and discovered I had this bloodline," replied Naruto.

"Shoraigan…Future's eye. Does that mean you can see into the future or something Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"That's exactly what it does," replied Naruto.

"Hmm…that actually sounds pretty useful," replied Sasuke. _"I wonder if he could find out when I'll awaken my Sharingan and how I do it." _"Is there anything else it can do?"

"Look, I'd like to tell you but do you think we could do it somewhere where we won't be attacked by enemy ninja?" asked Naruto. As if on cue, screams and cries of pain came from the forest behind them.

"Fine, but you better tell us everything," replied Sakura. "You've had it for so long and you haven't told us about it?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep it from you guys, but I just wasn't quite sure how to tell you," apologized Naruto.

"Don't press it you two. You'll understand why he was a little weary about revealing it when he tells you further," said Kakashi as he calmly waltzed out of the woods. "Now Tazuna, we've got something to discuss…these ninja weren't after us. Our mission was to protect you from common bandits, not ninja. This mission is at least B rank now, if not A rank."

"We aren't ready for this mission. It's way out of our abilities," said a sweating Sakura.

"I understand. If you must know, the reason I only got a C rank was because that was all I or my country could afford. Nami no Kuni is a poor country with one big problem that started over a year ago when Gato came to our country. He promised us with wealth and prosperity, but instead took control of our island's shipping businesses. Before we knew it, he controlled the entire island, robbing us of everything we had to fuel his drug, weapons trading, and human trafficking operations. He's a criminal who will just kill anyone who opposes him. That's why I need your protection, to complete my bridge and liberate my country from Gato's control," explained Tazuna.

"I've heard of Gato before. He's one of the world's wealthiest people who runs a shipping company on the outside; however, I wouldn't have a hard time believing that there's more to him than just a shipping company," said Kakashi.

"His monopoly on all our business traffic quickly gave him control of our island. Life in Nami no Kuni is…well you'll see when you get there, but to say the least…it's terrible," said Tazuna. "My bridge however, is the one thing he fears…"

"So those ninja who were after you were sent by Gato," deduced Sakura.

"Yeah, and if you quit the mission now, I'll definitely be killed. But, don't worry about it!" laughed Tazuna. "If I die, the worst thing that will happen is that my cute 10-year-old gradson will cry for a few days…and then they'll come after my daughter…" The last part was said as a sense of dread overtook Tazuna.

"Don't worry Old Man, we'll take the mission and kick the crap out of this Gato-guy's ass!" declared Naruto, speaking for the group.

"Hn, I'm down if it means more challenging fights," said Sasuke.

"Umm…I guess I'm in," Sakura added, although a lot of hesitation and reluctance present in her voice.

"I suppose I have no say in the matter so we'll continue to protect you, Tazuna-san," said Kakashi, finding himself overruled by a bunch of 12-year-olds. "But once your country gets back on your feet, you're going to have to pay for the full price of the mission."

"I understand, and thank you all very much," replied Tazuna.

* * *

At some forest hideaway,

"You failed! I pay you a lot of money, and all I ask is for you to kill a certain old man!" yelled a frustrated man, wearing a pinstripe suit, who was also lacking in the height department. Sitting on the couch opposite of him, and the one who was forced to be subjected to the cries of the screaming man, this man wearing bandages covering the lower half of his face and a scratched out Kirigakure hitai-ate grabbed the large broadsword from his back.

"Stop your bitching! This time, I'll go myself with my Kubikiribocho…and kill them all!" said the swordsman.

"Are you sure?" mocked the short man. "It seems the enemy has hired some skilled ninja. And with the failure of the Demon Brothers, they'll be more cautious."

"Who do you think I am?" asked the bandaged man. "There's a reason I'm called the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momoichi Zabuza."

* * *

"WOW! It's huge!" exclaimed Naruto as he came within sight of the large bridge that spanned most of the gap between the island of Nami no Kuni and the mainland of Hi no Kuni.

Everyone was riding upon a boat provided by a fisherman who was risking his own neck to help smuggle Tazuna and his hired ninjas back into the country. "Be Quiet!" shouted the ferryman. "Why do you think we're hiding in this mist and not using the engine? We'll be in deep trouble if Gato finds us!"

"Tazuna, it looks like we're clear so far, but just in case I'm going to take a safer route that has vegetation," said the ferryman, earning a nod from Tazuna. Minutes later, they were dropped off at a nearby dock before the ferryman took off.

"Ok! Get me home safely!" exclaimed Tazuna.

"_If we get attacked again…it will surely be a jonin-level opponent,"_ thought Kakashi before sighing.

"Huh?" thought Naruto as his eyes suddenly activated once again, a warning sign to all. "Watch out!"

"Get down!" Kakashi shouted, dragging Tazuna and Sakura to the ground with him, Naruto and Sasuke diving to the ground themselves as a massive blade sailed over their heads, embedding itself in a nearby tree. When everyone looked up, they saw a man standing on top of the blade, another rouge ninja hear for Tazuna's head. But this guy wasn't just any rouge ninja…

"If it isn't Momoichi Zabuza, missing ninja from Kirigakure," said Kakashi. Just as Naruto was about to charge at the man, Kakashi held out a hand, stopping the blonde. "Don't rush in carelessly. This guy is way above your level. Stay back and guard Tazuna and keep a watch ahead for me, okay?"

"Hmm…it will be a little more difficult this time around. Looks like I'm going to need this," said Kakashi as he raised his headband revealing his other eye, and the Sharingan.

"Well well, Sharingan Kakashi…" grinned Zabuza.

"_Sharingan?"_ thought a surprised Sasuke as Kakashi revealed the very dojutsu he was still lacking at this point.

"I already get to see the famous Sharingan…I'm honored," smirked Zabuza (that is if you could see under the bandages). "Tell me Kakashi, was the Bingo Book I kept true when it said you had copied 1000 jutsus? Copy Ninja Kakashi?"

"_Wow? Is sensei really that great?"_ thought Sakura.

"_How does he have the Sharingan? It only manifests itself in a select few members of the Uchiha clan?"_ Sasuke was now busy trying to answer some questions of his own.

"Now then, mind stepping out of the way while I kill that old man?" asked Zabuza, only to get silence and a glare from Kakashi. "I see…it seems I have to beat you first."

With that, Zabuza leapt off the tree and into the nearby river of water. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Water-release: Hidden Mist Jutsu). Just as Zabuza cast his jutsu, a thick blanket of mist rolled over the group of Konoha ninja.

"Momoichi Zabuza…as a member of Kirigakure, he was a known expert in silent killing," advised Kakashi. "You don't even notice until you're already dead. Keep on your guard. It's not like I can use the Sharingan perfectly." _"Naruto, your eyes would be more effective in this situation, but I am the one who has to face Zabuza. Keep an eye on your comrades."_

Suddenly, an ominous voice called out from beyond the mist. "8 choices…Liver, lungs, spine, clevical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?"

All of the sudden, a wave of massive killing intent overcame all three genin and Sasuke was the first one who started sweating profusely. Before he knew it, he was reaching for the knife, ready to end his own life just to make the pressure stop.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted, breaking the young Uchiha out of his stupor. "Don't worry, I'll protect you guys even if it costs me my life. I don't let my comrades die!"

"Between us!" shouted Naruto. At that very moment, Zabuza appeared in between the three genin and the bridge builder, but it was too late for him to make any sort of attack as Kakashi was already on the move. Zabuza was forced to abandon his endeavor before he could even swing his massive sword, but even then Kakashi drove his kunai into Zabuza's gut.

Naruto was about to open his mouth, but his eyes were seeing far enough ahead right now to know that it was not necessary, despite Zabuza coming up from behind and cleaving Kakashi in two.

Just as 'Zabuza' had done from Kakashi's kunai stab, Kakashi burst into water. _"Water clone? But how? In this mist?!"_

Zabuza immediately felt the cold steel edge of a kunai being pressed up against his neck. "It's over!" declared Kakashi.

"Shit! Kakashi-sensei, move!" shouted Naruto. Kakashi looked behind him just in time to avoid a kick by Zabuza that would have sent him skidding into the water.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was close. Kakashi-sensei almost fell in the water and got caught in some weird water prison."

Upon hearing this, Zabuza's eyes shot open in surprise. _"How the hell did that brat know what I was going to do?!"_

"_Heh, thanks Naruto,"_ thought Kakashi, realizing that he had just avoided being captured by a Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison).

Zabuza created two water clones. _"Something weird is going on with that brat. I'm going to have to take him out as well."_ His clones darted around Kakashi, who attempted to dispel them, but was forced to dodge a large sword aimed for his head instead. Naruto and Sasuke would have to deal with Zabuza's water clones as Kakashi had his hands full with the real Zabuza.

The group guarding Tazuna was forced to break apart as the two clones. One of the clones made a break for Naruto while the other made a go for Sakura and the bridge builder.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The Zabuza clone heading towards Tazuna jumped back just in time to avoid the giant fireball heading his way. "So it looks like I gotta go through another brat as well," smirked 'Zabuza' as he faced down Sasuke.

Seeing the sword swipe coming, Naruto was able to dodge the large blade in time and create enough room between himself and his attacker. _"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" About two dozen Narutos poofed into existence and charged the Zabuza clone, practically forming a dome of orange around the missing-nin. However, the attack was short-lived as Zabuza tossed all of the Narutos back, dispelling the clones and causing the original to slide back to where Sasuke was, with a single swipe of his blade.

Like Naruto, even Sasuke found himself overpowered as Zabuza smacked Sasuke with the blunt edge of his sword, sending the young Uchiha back and hurting in the back where he was hit.

"Stupid brats, you don't deserve to be called ninja if you can't beat one of my clones," said the Zabuza clone.

Kakashi looked over to see his two students struggling to fend off the Zabuza clones and knew he would have to do something to help them out. Despite the clones only being 10% as powerful as the real Zabuza, Kakashi was still beginning to doubt their abilities against this opponent.

"I don't think we can beat them head on," said Naruto.

"Got any bright ideas?" asked Sasuke.

"I think so. Got something a little more widespread than your fireball?" asked Naruto, getting a nod from Sasuke. The moment Naruto pulled out a large collapsed fuma shuriken. Somehow, Sasuke could immediately tell what Naruto had planned.

"You sure you can throw that?" asked Sasuke, knowing very well that a fuma shuriken required a little bit more skill than a normal shuriken.

"I may not be a weapons expert, but I've been practicing a little with one of these after you showed it to me that day in training," said Naruto. "Besides, I'm the one who knows were to throw it."

Sasuke nodded before beginning his jutsu. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (Fire-release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu)"

Over a dozen fireballs shot from Sasuke's mouth in a random fashion as they headed for Zabuza. The clones smirked, knowing well that all they to do was jump back to avoid it. Both clones jumped, but just as one of the clones took to the air, the fuma shuriken that Naruto had thrown burst from out of one of the fireballs and nicked the side of the clone. If that was the real Zabuza, that wouldn't be enough to take him down, but since it was a clone, it was enough to cause the clone to revert back into water.

The other clone let out a slight growl before just narrowly avoiding a kunai that had been thrown from behind. Sending a quick look behind him, he realized that the shuriken that had been thrown earlier was actually Naruto transformed into the shuriken.

"What was that about not being able to take out one of your clones?" mocked Sasuke.

Naruto regrouped into Sasuke before creating a few clones and sent them charging at the Zabuza clone.

The Zabuza clone ducked, dodged, and hacked his way through Naruto clones until he felt his movements starting to slow until he was practically immobilized.

Sasuke smirked as the Naruto clones had done their job, delivering and entangling Zabuza in ninja wire. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu."

Fire raced from Sasuke's mouth down the wires, incinerating the entangled Zabuza. Sasuke now stood with his hands on his knees, panting. For a gennin, pulling of three elemental jutsus in a battle was far from expected and Sasuke was already getting tired.

"It appears Naruto and Sasuke are done, what do you say we finish things up here," said Kakashi. Both he and Kakashi jumped towards the water and began cycling through the exact same hand seals.

"_Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!_"

Twin water dragons rose up from out of the water and crashed down upon each other, sending a large wave of water upon everyone.

"_Whoa…" _gasped Naruto.

"_He copied that many seals in mere seconds perfectly,"_ thought Sasuke, amazed with Kakashi's skill using the Sharingan, all while wondering how exactly Kakashi got it.

Zabuza and Kakashi were soon circling each other in a dance of sorts, matching each other's moves perfectly. _"Damn…my movements…he's completely…"_

"Reading them," finished Kakashi, startling Zabuza.

"_What? Did he read my mind? That…damned…"_

"Freaky eye is pissing me off! Right?" finished Kakashi.

"Heh…all you're doing is copying me! You can't beat me you monkey bastard!" declared Zabuza as he began a jutsu…only for Kakashi to finish the jutsu first as Zabuza stopped upon seeing an image of himself appear behind Kakashi.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu! (Water-release: Great Waterfall Technique)"

"What?! Impossible!" shouted Zabuza before getting blasted with a massive wave before the wave tore through the landscape and threw Zabuza against a tree. As Kakashi jumped up onto the tree, he lodged a number of kunai into Zabuza's limbs, immobilizing him. "How?...Can you…see the future?"

"Yeah…you're going to die," replied Kakashi. _"Well, not really but I can actually say I know someone who can."_

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted before two senbon came flying in, nailing Zabuza in the neck.

* * *

-End Chapter-

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Here's the next chapter. **

**I've never really understood why Kakashi never taught his team anything. He's a jonin sensei so I find it completely believable that he could have taught his team basic chakra control exercises within the first month. Then again, I don't know how long they were Team 7 before the Wave mission, but I figure for the purposes of this story, it would be about a month before Naruto gets fed up with D-ranks. Kakashi's not going to be handing them jutsus and techniques left and right, but he will at least give them the basics like wall walking, water walking and a few jutsus.**

**Well, let me know how this chapter went. I'll probably keep up with a fairly quick update pace until I reach the chunin exams and then slow down a little after the prelims as the story starts to develop a little more.**


	5. Learning Fates

_**Chapter 4: Learning Fates**_

**Disclaimer: I don't Own Naruto**

**A/N: As you will find out in this chapter, in this story Haku will be a girl. I also am going to lower her age by almost two years, putting her from 15 (as it was in cannon) around 13-14, putting her maybe just slightly older than Neji, Lee, and Tenten.**

* * *

Seeing as Naruto's future sight window was only a few seconds when he wasn't focusing…or his eyes were acting on their own like they sometime did, Naruto's warning to Kakashi came with not enough time as a pair of senbon sailed through the air and nailed Zabuza in the neck.

"Hehe, you were right. He is dead," called out a voice from the top of one of the tree branches. As everyone shifted their gaze upward, a robed ninja wearing an ANBU-style mask with the Kirigakure emblem stood atop a tree branch.

Jumping down from his own branch, Kakashi checked the vital signs on the corpse of Momoichi Zabuza. _"He really is dead…"_ Kakashi figured.

The masked ninja bowed. "Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

"That mask…I take it you're a hunter-nin from Kirigakure," inquired Kakashi.

"I am," replied the hunter-nin.

"Hunter nin?" asked Team 7 out of curiosity.

"Yes. My duty is to hunt down missing-nins. I am a member of Kirigakure's hunter-nin team," spoke the hunter-nin.

"_From the voice and the height…I'd say our hunter-nin's a girl, probably not much older than Naruto,"_ thought Kakashi. _"And yet she's a hunter-nin."_

"Who the hell are you?!" shouted Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto, she's not an enemy," said Kakashi.

"But that Zabuza…He was that strong and killed just like that!" Naruto continued. "He was strong and yet he was killed by a kid! A kid not much different than me! How can I understand that?!"

"I know how you feel Naruto. But that is the sad truth in our world. There exist kids younger than you, yet stronger than me," replied Kakshi.

Before anything else could be asked, the hunter-nin disappeared and then reappeared next to the body of Zabuza, before taking it away to dispose of it.

"Now to get Tazuna home safely," said Kakashi. "Let's go!" With that, Kakashi took one step before falling flat on his face. "My body won't move…Used the Sharingan too much."

* * *

Arriving at Tazuna's house, they were greeted by a young woman whom Tazuna introduced as his daughter, Tsunami. Kakashi was placed on a futon in a spare room and everyone else collapsed on nearby cushions.

"Sensei, are you alright?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah…but I'll be out for a week or so. I used up too much chakra from using the Sharingan," said Kakashi.

"Well, we just defeated a really strong ninja so we should be safe for awhile," said Tazuna.

"By the way, who was the masked kid?" Sakura asked, prompting Kakashi to go into a long discussion revolving around Kirigakure's hunter-nins, causing Kakashi to come to a most troublesome conclusion…"Zabuza's alive!"

"What?! But we saw him die!" exclaimed Sakura.

"True, but hunter-nins usually dispose of the body on spot," said Kakashi. "How did the 'hunter-nin' dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"How could we know? That masked ninja took off with the body," said Sakura.

"If hunter-nins need proof, they just take the head and destroy the rest of the body," said Kakashi. "And the weapon that he used to kill Zabuza…simple needles. They aren't made for killing, but can put you in a death-like state."

"So he is alive then?" asked Sakura.

"Most likely, and that hunter-nin is actually his accomplice," said Kakashi. "Regardless, it is very likely Gato will send someone else after us, whether it's Zabuza or an even stronger opponent. I estimate we have about a week before we face the risk of another attack. During then, we're going to prepare."

"What do you mean by prepare?" asked Naruto.

"For the next week, you guys will receive training while you rotate between guarding Tazuna. You guys are growing rapidly. All of you," said Kakashi. "Get some rest, because tomorrow we'll start."

"That's not fun!" scoffed a young boy who had just entered the room.

"Inari! Where were you?" cheered Tazuna. "Inari, say hello to these people. They are ninjas who protected grandpa!"

"Mom…" Inari said, turning away from Tazuna and towards his mother, Tsunami. "They are going to die."

"WHAT?!" shouted Naruto and Sakura in unison. Sasuke was thinking the same exact thing, even if he didn't say anything.

"There's no way you can win against Gato," said Inari.

"You little brat!" shouted Naruto. "Listen here. I am a super hero who will one day become an incredible ninja called the Hokage! I don't know this Gato, but he's nothing against me!"

"Hmph. What are you, stupid?" Inari asked. "There's no such thing as a hero!" Inari turned to leave a flailing Naruto, being held back by Sakura. "If you don't want to die, you should leave."

"Sorry," Tazuna apologized just as Naruto stomped up the stairs to go have a 'talk' with Inari. As Naruto got to Inari's door, he heard the small boy crying from inside. Changing his mind, he decided to leave the crying boy alone for the time being.

* * *

"So Naruto, you going to tell us more about this bloodline of yours?" asked Sasuke as the three of them sat down in the spare room. This would be Sakura's room while Naruto and Sasuke slept on futons in the living room.

"Honestly, there's not really much more to tell you other than my Shoraigan. Sakura-chan got it correct when she said it can see into the future," replied Naruto. "Other than that, I don't know what else my jikaton can do."

"Jikaton?" asked both Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously.

"Yeah, that supposedly the name of the bloodline that Hokage-jiji told me I have. But other than these eyes, I still don't know what else I can do," said Naruto.

"So when were you planning on telling us?" asked Sasuke, now pushing the subject further.

"I was actually going to tell you guys after this mission. Hokage-jiji told me to be careful with revealing my bloodline, something about it being a long lost bloodline and villages trying to get their hands on it if they ever found out," replied Naruto. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys, but I wanted to wait for the right moment."

"You mean like after we get attacked by ninja?" retorted Sasuke.

"Umm…well we weren't supposed to be attacked," sweated Naruto.

"It's fine. Just one more question to ask," said Sasuke. And then Naruto was bombarded with questions about the future by Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke wanted to know when he would get his Sharingan, how he got it, and when and how he killed a man by the name of Uchiha Itachi, who he revealed to be his brother and the one responsible for the deal of his clan. Sakura on the other hand wanted to know stuff along the lines of when Sasuke-kun would finally accept one of her date requests, and when they would get married. Needless to say, Naruto was resisting the urge to face palm himself…repeatedly.

"I can't see that far ahead guys," responded Naruto. "At most, it's only two days if I really focus. Although it used to only be a day so maybe with some more practice, but I can't see much further than that."

Both Sasuke and Sakura sighed in defeat. It was worth a shot.

* * *

Gato's hideaway,

"So, even you have come back defeated," smirked Gato, who was accompanied by two thugs, about twice his size, wielding swords at their sides. "It looks like Kiri ninja are pretty pathetic." The young girl who was tending to Zabuza's wounds did not like the tone of the short man at all and just watched him cautiously.

"You can't even avenge your own men? And you call yourself a demon…" mocked Gato. "I bet I could even take that girl of yours and there'd be nothing to stop me from doing so." A sickening grin appeared on Gato's face as he reached towards the girl tending to Zabuza. That was one mistake Gato shouldn't have made as the young girl grabbed Gato's arm and snapped the bones in the short business man's arm in a single quick motion. Ready to defend their boss, the two guards moved forward, only for the girl to grab their own swords and hold it to their necks, making them freeze out of pure surprise at the speed of the girl.

"FINE! One more time! I'll give you one more chance, but if you fail…you won't be welcome here anymore!" shouted Gato before he and his guards left the room.

"Haku, you didn't have to…" said Zabuza, showing Haku the kunai underneath his covers.

"I know it's too early to kill Gato. If we cause a commotion, they'll be after us again," said Haku. "We must be patient."

* * *

In a forested clearing, outside of Tazuna's house,

"From now on, one of you will be guarding Tazuna while the other two stay here and train," said Kakashi. "You three already have the basic chakra control exercises down, but I still want you to practice those a bit; however, that's not what I had planned."

"So are you going to teach us a cool jutsu, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Unfortunately, I don't have what I need here to teach you three a jutsu, but I want to continue on our discussion about chakra," said Kakashi. "As ninja, we use chakra to perform jutsus, but that's not all. Chakra can also be used to augment our movements, namely speed and strength. Just looking at the three of you, I think Naruto and Sasuke would be better at learning the speed aspect first while Sakura learns the strength aspect."

"Sakura, one reason I believe strength is best for you is that it requires extremely refined chakra control, something you are naturally blessed with. The Legendary Sannin, Senju Tsunade is renowned for being able to utilize precise chakra control to increase her strength to monstrous levels. It's said that she can spit the earth in two with a single punch," explained Kakashi.

"As for Naruto and Sasuke, you both have more chakra than Sakura which will allow you to maintain higher chakra levels for longer periods of time, and as a result sustained speeds. This is how the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body-flicker technique) works," said Kakashi. "Sasuke, you may be familiar with this name…Uchiha Shisui."

Sasuke's head perked up at this. He had heard of Shunshin no Shisui. If he remembered correctly, Shisui had committed suicide one day before the massacre.

"Shisui was so skilled with the shunshin that he was hailed as one of the fastest shinobi in the village and a deadly opponent on the field," said Kakashi. "Sakura, why don't you guard Tazuna first and I'll explain the basics of the Shunshin to Naruto and Sasuke. When you come back, we'll see if we can start putting that chakra control of yours to good use."

For the next few hours, Kakashi worked with Naruto and Sasuke on how to apply the chakra to their legs in order to move at increase speeds. Since the Shunshin was considered a D-rank technique, Kakashi was honestly hoping that both Naruto and Sasuke would be able to use the technique by the end of the week. While the training wasn't as exciting as walking up trees or across water, it served the purpose for the technique. For this, Kakashi had his students stand a set distance away while one dropped a rock from a standing position. If the exercise was done correct, the other would be able to Shunshin to the first's side and grab the rock before it touched the ground.

In all honesty, it didn't take long before either Naruto and Sasuke began getting bored, resulting in a few spars. For Naruto, those spars were probably the best things he could have been doing as Sasuke had allowed the use of his dojutsu, giving Naruto some actual combat training using the Soraigan to see the attacks coming and react to it. Needless to say, Sasuke could not land a hit on Naruto during the spars where the blonde was using his dojutsu.

Sakura's training was slightly different in that Kakashi wasn't necessarily focusing on Sakura's speed, although there were times when he passed a few hints to either Naruto or Sasuke, hoping she would catch on to the requirements behind the Shunshin. Still, Kakashi saw one problem that he would have to solve at some point…Sakura could still be considered a fan girl. Unlike Naruto or Sasuke, who were in good shape from having put in quite a bit of extra training on their own times, Sakura was not doing the same. Also, whenever Sasuke was around and Naruto was guarding Tazuna, she would seem a bit distracted. Of course she had performed her duties of protecting Tazuna during their encounters with the ninja, but for the most part, Naruto and Sasuke had done all the fighting. It was not necessarily something he wanted to do on this mission, but Kakashi knew that sooner or later, he'd have to help Sakura break out of the 'fan-girl' mentality.

* * *

Sitting on a stack of wooded beams, Sakura let out a big yawn. It was her time to guard Tazuna.

"Hey…Tazuna!" called out one of the builders.

"What is it Gichi?" asked Tazuna.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and…I'm sorry, but can I stop working on the bridge?" asked Gichi.

"Why?! Not you too!" exclaimed Tazuna.

"I'm sorry Tazuna. I want to help you, but if we continue, Gato will take notice and if you get killed, then what's the point?" asked Gichi. "Why don't we just quit building the bridge?"

"I can't do that…" replied Tazuna. "This bridge, our bridge…this is the bridge we started building together believing it would bring recourses into our poor country."

"But if we lose our lives!" shouted Gichi.

"It's already noon. Let's stop for today. Gichi, you don't have to come tomorrow," said Tazuna.

Sakura accompanied Tazuna through the village. What she saw, opened her eyes to just how bad the situation in the wave truly was. All around, people littered the streets, looking malnourished and broken. There was one man who was wearing a sign that said "Will take any job." There were many villagers looking for just the opportunity to steal a free meal from food stands that were already lacking in food.

It was just a depressing sight to see how bad of shape the village was in. As Tazuna and Sakura exited the store, Sakura felt someone's hand brush against her behind, going for the satchel she had around her shoulder. Still, the slight brush was enough to send Sakura's female intuition into overdrive as she turned around to see a man trying to pickpocket her…or feel her up.

"PERVERT!" the pink-haired genin shouted before slamming her fist into the pervert's face and sending him skidding through the street until he crashed into a pile of crates. That training Kakashi had been giving her on using chakra to augment her strength was already paying off.

"What's going on in this city?" asked Sakura, moments before she felt another tug on her ass and was about to clobber another pervert trying to feel her up when she stopped, realizing that it was a skinny and starving child. Much to the child's delight, Sakura dumped a handful of candy into the kid's hands.

"All the adults have lost hope," said Tazuna, answering Sakura's question from earlier. "This is why we need the bridge. It's a symbol of courage this village desperately needs. We need the people to lose their fears and stand up for themselves. If that bridge can be completed, then hope will return to this land."

* * *

After a hard day of training, with the record now standing at 5-4 in Naruto's favor as a result of the spars they had over the day, Naruto and Sasuke were engaged in one more competition for the day.

"More please!" shouted both of them, handing Tsunami their bowl…only for them to nearly throw up as a result of overeating (they were just one step closer to becoming an Akimichi).

After reprimanding the two hogs, Sakura walked over to view a torn photo on the wall that Inari was staring at earlier. Tazuna began to explain about the missing person before Inari stood up from the table and walked away, slamming his bedroom door.

After some yelling from Tsunami, they explained that the man missing was Tsunami's husband, Kaiza, who Inari looked at as a father, despite not being blood related. However, the mood quickly grew darker as it was revealed that Kaiza was murdered by Gato for standing up to the tyrant. It was then that Nami lost their last hero and their spirits broke.

"Naruto, where are you going?!" asked Sakura as Naruto wearily got up from his chair.

"I'm going to prove that heroes do exist! This country will have a brighter future, I guarantee that!" declared Naruto as he briefly flashed his Shoraigan.

* * *

The following morning came with Naruto being awoken to the sun's rays. He had fallen asleep in the middle of a clearing within the forest, training himself to the brink of total exhaustion. However, he wasn't alone.

Nearby, a young girl, perhaps a year or two older than Naruto, was walking through a patch of field that was rich in medical herbs when she noticed an orange bundle on the ground. The first thing that caught her eye was the headband on the boy…Konoha.

"_He's one of the ninja that Zabuza-sama fought,_" thought Haku before reaching and shaking Naruto on the shoulder, waking him.

The very moment Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, his Soraigan went on overdrive, filling his head with visions.

_The day had come, the day where Zabuza and his accomplice had come to finish their job. _Naruto's vision focused primarily on Zabuza's accomplice. _Sasuke was the one who engaged the masked ninja and they quickly locked grips, before the masked attacker made a single hand seal and the water around Sasuke rose up, forming into 1000 sharp water needles. Sasuke managed to dodge the attack, thanks to the increase in speed he had picked up over the week of training. But it was then that things went downhill as the masked attacker unleashed their true power, forming a dome of ice mirrors surrounding Sasuke. Before Sasuke could even react, he was assaulted with a barrage of senbon. And then…Naruto arrived in blazing fashion, shouting his entrance into the battle out loud for the world to hear. _

_Doing something completely unexpected and stupid at the same time, Naruto 'snuck' into the masked ninja's jutsu to try and help Sasuke, but that's where things went downhill. The masked assailant somehow stepped into the mirrors and before anyone knew it, Naruto and Sasuke were assaulted with a barrage of senbon again. Sasuke tried to retaliate and melt the mirrors with his __Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu__, but the ice withstood the fire. And then more senbon rained upon the boys. _

_Out of frustration, Naruto formed two dozen clones, all with the hopes of breaking through the jutsu, but the masked assailant was too fast…dispelling all the clones in seconds. Naruto was then bombarded with a barrage of senbon._

_Both boys, now resembling of pincushions, struggled to rise to their feet; however, Sasuke was beginning to notice something…he was now able to follow the insanely fast movements of his opponent. _

_Sasuke's eyes blaze a fiery red…his Sharingan finally awakening. It was then that the masked assailant realized that the battle had to be finished quick. The easiest target…Naruto. Sasuke moved to intercept the attack._

_As Naruto's eyes began to open, the sight was horrific. Sasuke had taken the attack that was meant to kill him. Needles stuck out of Sasuke's neck and body, blood pouring around the needles._

"_What's with that face?...You moron…" spoke Sasuke weakly._

"_W-why?" asked Naruto._

"_I don't know…my body…just moved on it's…own…" said Sasuke before dropping to the ground…dead._

_Rage and anger filled Naruto as the masked ninja stepped back into the mirror. To the ninja's horror, a vile and dark chakra flared up from around Naruto, who was now taking on a slightly more feral appearance. _

_With blinding speed, and building rage, Naruto punched one of the ice mirrors before the masked ninja even had time to jump to the safety of another mirror. Naruto's fist drove straight through the ice, shattering it and sending the masked ninja flying back, crashing into the barrier on the side of the bridge. As Naruto readied himself for another attack, the mask began to shatter and fall off, revealing…the same girl he had met a day or two ago in the forest._

And the same girl he was looking at this very moment. The vision continued for just a little bit longer.

_Naruto's punch immediately stopped upon seeing the identity of the masked ninja and the hatred and anger left his system._

"_Why did you stop?" asked the girl. "I killed you precious friend, yet you can't kill me?"_

_Looking over at Sasuke's corpse, Naruto managed a punch, but it was nowhere near as powerful as before._

"_There are people who make this mistake, not killing their enemy because of pity…letting them leave with just their lives," spoke the girl. "Can you understand? Not having a dream…not being needed by someone…the pain of simply living?"_

_Naruto could in fact understand. "What are you trying to say?" asked Naruto._

"_Zabuza has no need for a weak shinobi. You have taken away my reason for existing," spoke the girl._

"_Why?...Why for a guy like that? He's a bad guy who takes money from a criminal!" shouted Naruto. Is that eye-browless freak the only important person to you?!"_

"_A long time ago…I had people very important to me…parents," said the girl. And with that, she went into a story explaining about how she was born in Kirigakure to parents who loved her…until her father found out she and her mother possessed a kekkei genkai, a rare bloodline trait feared and persecuted throughout Mizu no Kuni, and killed her mother while trying to kill her. It was then that the girl's bloodline activated, killing her father and the mob he had assembled before she could be killed. _

_For weeks, the frail girl wandered the cold, moving from village to village, surviving off of whatever she could find that had been tossed aside._

"_At that time, I realized the most painful thing…"_ _the girl said. "That in this world…I am a person unwanted."_

_It was then that Naruto began to realize something…he and the girl were alike, feared for something they had no control over. _

"_Now, if someone who acknowledged you from the bottom of their heart appeared, wouldn't that someone become the most important person to you?" the girl asked. Naruto's mind immediately flashed to Iruka-sensei. "Zabuza-sama took me in, knowing I was a person with an advanced bloodline. The blood that everyone hated…he desired it…and he gave me my reason to exist. There was someone who wanted me…and I knew I would follow him until the end of the world, just to help him accomplish his own goals."_

"_I'm sorry Zabuza-sama, I was unable to become the weapon you sought..." thought the girl before speaking two words to Naruto. "Kill me."_

Naruto's vision flashed forward a few moments, to where Naruto was hesitantly going to kill this girl, although he probably never would have ended up killing her.

_Immediately, the girl sensed something and before Naruto could even react, kicked the blonde in the stomach before creating an ice mirror and disappearing in it. _

"_Huh?" thought Naruto as he frantically looked around for the girl. "Over there!"_

_Naruto ran towards three shady figures, the mist still lingering around to obscure his vision. However, when Naruto arrived at where the girl was, he couldn't help but let a horrified look overcome his face. The girl was now standing between Kakashi and Zabuza, who had been locked in a fight of their own, with Kakashi's hand piercing clean through her body, where her heart was. _

_It seemed like Haku saw that she could be of one last use to Zabuza…using herself as a shield and sacrificing her own life to ensure Zabuza's survival. _

_At this, Zabuza just laughed before preparing to swing his sword. "I sure picked up something useful…good girl, giving me this final chance," Zabuza said as he swung his sword, prepared to cleave Kakashi and his now dead accomplice in two._

_Swiftly, Kakashi lept out of the way, taking the girl's body with him over to Naruto and lying her corpse next to the blonde._

"_Hehe…with Haku dead, you can move," Zabuza laughed and rage began building up in Naruto as he looked down at the girl who gave her life in exchange for Zabuza's._

"_Naruto, stay here," said Kakashi before pulling his hand out of Haku's chest and closing her eyes. For some reason that Naruto still couldn't get, she looked peaceful that she was able to fulfill her self-proclaimed purpose one last time._

Naruto cut the vision there, not wanting to see anymore. For some reason, he didn't care how the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza ended. He just couldn't bear to think on how Haku would give herself like that willingly for someone like Zabuza.

Naruto soon opened his eyes, after feeling the hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see who had awoken him and was shocked when it was the very same girl from his vision…Haku he believed her name was. She was wearing a light pink kimono and had a basket of herbs at her side.

"You'll catch cold sleeping in a place like this," the girl said.

"Huh? Who are you?" Naruto asked, pretending to have not seen his vision for the moment.

"I was out here looking for some medical herbs for my friend who was injured the other day," the girl replied. So what did Naruto do? He offered to help find the medical herbs she needed. "Thanks for helping me out."

"You sure are working early, lady," said Naruto as he handed the herb to the girl.

"You are too. What are you doing here at this time of morning?"

"TRAINING!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I see…That headband, could you be a ninja?" asked the girl.

"You noticed? Yeah I'm a ninja!" Naruto shouted, getting a small giggle out of the girl. This in turn caused Naruto to let a slight blush creep across his face.

"Why are you training?" inquired the girl.

"Because I want to become stronger!" replied Naruto without a hint of doubt in his voice.

"But you already look pretty strong," said the girl.

"No! I want to become even stronger!" exclaimed Naruto. "To become Hokage, the strongest ninja in my village is my dream! I'm going to make everyone acknowledge my strength and there's also something I need to prove right now!"

"Is that for you or someone else?" asked the girl. Naruto just looked at her with a confused expression before she laughed again. "Do you have someone who's precious to you?"

"What?" asked Naruto.

"When a person has something important to protect, that's when they can truly become strong," said the girl. Naruto's memory immediately flashed to Iruka-sensei and his team before he smiled.

"Yes…I understand that very well,"

The girl picked up her basket of herbs before she slowly began to walk away. "You will become strong. Let's meet again somewhere…"

By now, Naruto couldn't help but ignore the memories from his vision that were now tearing at each other inside his head. "Wait…Haku is it?"

Haku stopped dead in her tracks, she had not revealed her name to this boy and yet he knew?

"I know you're with him. That eyebrow-less guy…Zabuza," spoke Naruto. Haku immediately formed a senbon out of ice and threw it at Naruto, who dodged it with ease. "I don't want to fight…just talk."

Haku stood there for a moment with another senbon in hand before cautiously lowering it. "I can't explain why, but I know. I know how you view Zabuza, how you see yourself as nothing more than that guy's tool! How? To a guy like that, how?!"

To say Haku was surprised, well even though she was trying to hide it, she couldn't.

Flashback no Jutsu

"Haku, where are you going?" asked Zabuza as Haku prepared to leave the base where she and Zabuza were recovering from their battle. Haku was going to go out to find some herbs to help with Zabuza's healing.

"I'm just going to find some medicine to help you," replied Haku.

"I see. Very well then, but be careful. You may run into those Konoha ninja. If you run into that Kakashi, stay away from him. And also be careful of that blonde brat," said Zabuza. "I don't know why, but he knew everything I was going to do. He could even see what I was going to do in the mist. I would have had them if it wasn't for that brat."

"I don't know how he saw my attacks before I did them, but I assure you I'll take care of him when we meet again soon…" said Zabuza.

End Flashback no Jutsu

"_He could see Zabuza-sama's attacks before he used them? And he knew about my involvement with Zabuza-sama before I even said anything?"_ Haku thought, trying to figure out this kid. Her mind came to one conclusion, but she dismissed it out of how ridiculous it sounded...foresight.

"You don't seem like the type of person who would be involved with a guy like Zabuza. You're too kind and too nice," said Naruto.

"That may be, but Zabuza-sama is the person I hold most dear. He…"

"I know he saved your life, gave you a purpose for living! But how can you throw your life away for someone like him?!" shouted Naruto.

This shook Haku to the core. From what this kid was implying, she was going to die for Zabuza.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Naruto. "Please don't come to the bridge. If you do…you'll die."

That confirmed Haku's suspicion. Somehow, this boy had foreseen her own death, but one question remained. "How will I die?"

That was one thing he had been lectured on by Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei recently…not giving away too much. He could have told her exactly what he saw in his vision, but then the 'enemy' would know how the battle was going to go and most likely change their attack plans. "You'll die so that Zabuza can live," Naruto said, trying to tell her what would happen but without giving away any more details than absolutely necessary. "Please just don't come to the bridge."

To her, it was obvious that Naruto was still innocent in the world of shinobi. He didn't know death and to him, everything about being a ninja was still a fantasy.

"I will do what Zabuza wishes and if that means I must give up my own life to ensure he lives, then I will do such," replied Haku before walking off.

Naruto stood there, clutching his hands before turning back to return to Tazuna's house. However, before Naruto could leave the clearing, Sasuke approached him and before they knew it…they were training once again.

It was late in the evening when, and with the aid of each other, Naruto and Sasuke hobbled back to Tazuna's house. The two plopped themselves down at the dinner table as Tsunami set some food and water in front of them, which disappeared within seconds.

"Heh, you two look worn out," chuckled Tazuna. "I'm also worn out from today's work. At this rate, it will only be a matter of days before the bridge is done."

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, father! Don't overdo it, okay?!" protested Tsunami. Across the table, Inari began to cry before shouting out.

"Why do you guys bother to try so hard?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, when facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"

Everyone expected Naruto to shout back and argue loudly with the kid, but he just sat there, not wanting to waste whatever little energy he still had in a petty argument. "Whatever kid, I'm not like you."

"I'D HATE TO BE LIKE YOU!" Inari shouted. "You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being so nosy! What the hell do you know about me?! I'm different from you, you're always clowning around and acting so cheerful, you don't know how hard life can be!"

Naruto finally snapped. "Just keep on crying then forever, you LITTLE SISSY!" Inari was speechless and only began to cry harder.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, now joining the fray.

"Whatever…" said Naruto before walking away. "I've got something I need to think about…I'll see you in the morning, Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi let out a sigh as he turned Inari, who was sulking away towards the door of the house, still crying.

"Can I join you?" Inari, who was sitting on the dock outside his house, turned around to see the jonin sensei of the ninjas hired to protect his grandfather. Kakashi took a seat next to the boy.

"Naruto didn't mean any harm by what he said; he just sometimes does stuff without using his head. Tazuna-san told us about your dad…" said Kakashi. "Like you, Naruto also grew up without a father. Actually, he's never known his parents and he's never even had a single friend until just recently. The truth is, he's had a rougher past than you. But I've never once seen him cry or complain. He only moves on and works harder, trying his best to get people to acknowledge him. For his dream, he's risk his life at any time."

Kakashi's words actually got through to Inari, and for the first time since Team 7 had met the small boy, Inari wasn't questioning the hopelessness of their actions.

"He knows what it really means to be strong, just like your father," said Kakashi. "Naruto may actually understand your feelings better than anyone else. Regardless of what he said, he really does care about you."

Inari was left speechless to contemplate those words for the rest of the evening.

* * *

"_Damnit! Why did, or I guess will, Haku give her life just like that for someone like Zabuza? Why are they even working for someone like this Gato guy?" Can't they see what Gato's doing to the people?!"_ Naruto, already frustrated from Inari's crying, clenched his fist so hard that his fingers actually dug into and caused his hands to bleed. _"What to do? I can't let them kill Tazuna or this island's going to suffer even more from Gato. But I don't want Haku to have to die. She just seems too good and too innocent to have to die for someone like Gato."_

"_And then there's Sasuke…"_

Flashback no Jutsu (a few days ago)

"Naruto," Sasuke called out as he walked over to Naruto one time as the two of them were training. "Can I ask you something?"

"Huh? The 'Great Uchiha Sasuke', asking me a question?" Naruto joked, earning a glare from Sasuke. "What do you want?"

"I know you said you can't see that far into the future but I want to ask that if you ever find out about how I awake my Sharingan that you'll let me know?" Sasuke asked.

"Umm…yeah," Naruto said, expecting something more like how much longer he was going to be tormented by fangirls or something. "Don't worry, I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you with your Sharingan."

End Flashback no Jutsu

"_Sasuke unlocks his Sharingan tomorrow in the fight against Haku. I could tell him, but then he might do something that will make it so he never unlocks it. Plus he…"_ despite how much he hated Sasuke back in the academy for all the attention everyone would pay him, Naruto had begun to develop a growing amount of respect for his teammate and the last thing he wanted was for Sasuke to die. _"I could just go right away and try to stop any of Haku's attacks from hitting Sasuke, but then he might not get his Sharingan."_

Out of frustration on how complicated things were getting, Naruto grabbed his hair. First and above all, he had to make sure his team made it out alive. Letting Sasuke die was an absolute 'NO'. Second, Naruto didn't want Haku to die either. She seemed too innocent and if Naruto could just somehow break that 'I'm nothing more than a tool' thought that Zabuza shoved into her head, then perhaps she could see that there's more to living than just serving someone who works for a bastard like Gato. Third, there was Sasuke's Sharingan. He had promised Sasuke to help him with his Sharingan and now that he knew Sasuke was going to unlock it battling Haku. He couldn't just shrug it off now and if Sasuke ever found out, the Uchiha would be pissed. Plus Naruto wasn't going to start breaking promises now. And lastly, there was Gato. If there was anyone who had to die, it was Gato.

While in thought, Naruto found himself slip from consciousness, like he had when he was first learning to activate his dojutsu.

* * *

Unknown tower in some fantasy universe,

Naruto awoke to find himself in a familiar, yet no less surprising place. He was now on top of the massive tower where he had first met Time over a month ago. The blonde looked around until he saw the long blue cloak of Time looking over the edge of the tower. Like last time, Naruto couldn't make out any features of the specter with the exception of his long beard.

"Umm…" Naruto was about to inquire why he was here, but Time stopped him.

"I know what you've been thinking about during your time to yourself," spoke Time. "You wonder why you're here? Well I brought you here this time to give you a warning."

"Warning?" Naruto asked.

"The last times you had a vision like that, just before the time came for you to take your two tests to become a shinobi, the end results were the same as they were intended to be," said Time. "As such, you using your foresight had no effect on the flow of time. Nothing really changed. But now, you're contemplating saving that girl and your teammate. I will tell you this. Had you have waited until the vision was finished, you would have learned that it was not your friend's time yet."

"Wait, so Sasuke doesn't die?" asked a happy Naruto.

"He was simply put in a death-like state but no, he does not die," spoke Time.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Well that takes care of one thing. Now all that's left to do is figure out how to save Haku."

"And that is what I want to warn you about. Unlike your friend, this girl does in fact die. It is time for you to learn the truth behind the power you hold. You've probably noticed now that despite you knowing what's going to happen, you can act differently. Until now, there haven't been any problems as the end results were the same…you graduating, your team passing, your team defeating Zabuza the first time through. So long as the end result remains the same, the flow of time doesn't complain and continues to flow as it always has. However, should the end result be something different than what fate had predicted…well then consequences happen that even I cannot see and consequences that were never supposed to happen come to pass. I will warn you now, don't try to save the girl."

"What?! But why not? What's the point in having these powers if I can't do what I think is the right thing to do?!" argued Naruto.

"Because as of this moment, the flow of time is stable. Saving this girl could potentially disrupt the flow of time," spoke Time.

"I will leave you with that to ponder for now, until next time…" said Time, before giving Naruto another push…off the tower and towards the raging seas below.

* * *

-End Chapter-

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. **

**Continuing on the Haku note, I estimate that the incident with her father occurred when she was 6-7 with Zabuza finding her a few months later. What this would mean is that she's been with Zabuza for about 6-7 years. **

**I will try to have updates for this story, The Uzumaki Tales, and Rewriting the past by the end of next weekend (8/18/13), if not early the following week at the very latest. **

**Please be sure to review and let me know how the chapter went. I'll try to respond to a few reviews in the next chapter.**


	6. To Change Fate

_**Chapter 5: To Change Fate**_

_**Posted: Sept. 8, 2013**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

"Goodbye, please take care of Naruto," said Kakashi as he and the rest of Team 7 left with Tazuna to the bridge. Naruto on the other hand, was still asleep inside the house.

About 30 minutes later, Naruto began to stir. _"Damn Time. What should I do? I don't want to alter the flow of time but I can't let Haku sacrifice herself like that."_ Looking over at a nearby clock, Naruto suddenly freaked out. "AHHH! I overslept!"

"Hey! Where is everyone?!" shouted Naruto as he opened the door leading into the living room of the house.

"Oh! Naruto, you're awake? Your sensei said that you'd be asleep the rest of the day," said a surprised Tsunami.

"I knew it! They left me behind!" shouted Naruto before dashing out of the door.

"_Damn them! Damn Time. It's because of him that I overslept!" _thought Naruto before his Shoraigan flared on, showing him images of two bandits breaking into Tsunami's home and kidnapping both her and Inari.

Tsunami was busy inside preparing food for when her dad and the shinobi returned. The moment she turned around to grab a pot, the door to her home was blown in by two of Gato's sword-wielding thugs.

"Are you Tasuna's daughter?" smirked the one wearing a black hat. "Sorry, but you're coming with us." With that, the thug not wearing a shirt smashed the table Tsunami was working on, causing the young woman to be throwing back against the cabinets in the kitchen.

"MOM!" Inari shouted, coming out of the bathroom after hearing a ruckus coming from the kitchen.

"What? There's a kid?" grinned the thugs.

"INARI! DON'T COME! RUN!" shouted a panicked Tsunami.

"Should we take him to?" asked the shirtless thug.

"We only need one hostage," said the hat wearing thug. "And the woman will be more use to us once we're done with her and the old geezer."

Tsunami shivered at that, but then the larger of the two drew his sword and looked towards Inari.

"If you touch that child, I'll bite my tongue and choke myself to death," threatened Tsunami. "You want a hostage? Fine I'll come, but leave my son out of this."

"Heh, smart girl," smirked the capped thug. Inari however, cowered back behind the wall, crying as the words from last night came to him.

"Such pretty skin. I can't wait until after we take care of the old man," smirked the larger thug. "I can't wait…"

Another shiver was sent down Tsunami's spine as she knew what awaited her should help fail to arrive.

"WAIT!"

"Huh?" asked one of the thugs as they looked over their shoulders to see Inari. "It's that kid."

"INARI!" Tsunami shouted.

"Get away from my mom!" demanded Inari.

"Heh, looks like I get to cut the little punk after all," grinned the larger thug.

However, as the two thugs slashed through Inari, Inari poofed into a log, with the exception of his hat.

"Sorry for being late," apologized Naruto as he placed Inari next to his mother, who was near the point of passing out due to hyperventilation now. "But usually, the hero shows up at the last second."

"Naruto…"

"Great job, Inari!" said Naruto.

"Hey look it's one of those loser ninja," mocked the thugs. The two of them charged at Naruto as Naruto threw a couple of shuriken at them. The thugs easily dodged the shuriken, but those shuriken weren't shuriken.

Before the thugs knew what hit them, the shuriken poofed into Naruto clones, giving a swift kick to the two thugs upside their heads and sent them skidding across the dock and into the water.

"Wait, how did you know they were coming here?" asked Inari.

"Let's just say I've got a knack for knowing what will happen," grinned Naruto. "Never mind that…sorry about yesterday, Inari. Sorry for calling you a sissy. You're actually pretty strong!"

At Naruto's words, Inari began to cry…again. "Damn it! I had decided I wasn't going to cry anymore!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto before smiling at Inari. "It's alright to cry when you're happy."

Naruto then proceeded to bind the unconscious thugs in a mass of ropes and nets. "If they attacked here, then the bridge might be in danger. I've gotta go. I can count on you to handle things here, right?"

"Yup!" cheered Inari.

* * *

"Wha-What is this?!" shouted Tazuna as he and Team 7 arrived at the bridge only to find the workers scattered across the bridge, injured, bleeding, or dead.

"A monster…" one of the workers managed to get out before losing consciousness, just as the mist began to roll in. Team 7's guard rose as they instantly assumed formation.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is the Kirigakure no Jutsu, right?" asked Sakura. Sasuke began trembling.

"Long time no see…Kakashi," a familiar voice called out through the mist. "I see you're still with those brats. Heh, poor kid. He's shaking again."

Immediately, six Zabuzas appeared around the four.

"Hmph, I'm shaking…from excitement," grinned Sasuke before disappearing, and with a swift motion, cutting through all 6 Zabuzas.

Another laugh called out through the mist as the Zabuza's turned to water.

"Hmm…he saw right through the water clones. It looks like you may have a rival, eh Haku?" asked Zabuza to his apprentice, both of them standing on the opposite end of the bridge.

"So, my thinking was right on the mark," said Kakashi, eyeing the hunter-nin from before. "That hunter-nin from before is working with Zabuza."

"I'll fight her," declared Sasuke. "Tricking us with that stupid act…I hate bitches like that the most."

"You're so cool, Sasuke-kun!" squealed Sakura.

"_She's way too hung up on him…"_ sweat-dropped Kakashi.

"Go," ordered Zabuza and the hunter-nin instantly disappeared in a water Shunshin, reappearing next to Sasuke and swiping at the young Uchiha with a senbon. Sasuke swiftly responded with a kunai and the two weapons clashed with one another.

"_So, he can keep up with Haku,"_ thought Zabuza.

"Sakura, guard Tazuna. We'll let Sasuke handle her," ordered Kakashi as he eyed Zabuza.

"I don't want to have to kill you, but you won't stand down, will you?" asked Haku.

"Don't be foolish," grinned Sasuke.

"I see…but you won't be able to keep up with my speed next time. Plus I've already gained two advantages," smiled Haku underneath her mask.

With that, Haku made a single-handed sign, surprising Sasuke…and also Kakashi. As she did that, the water around them rose up and formed into 1000 icy needles. "Sensatsu Suisho (1000 flying water needles of death)."

Sasuke concentrated as the water needles rushed in, focusing chakra to his legs to give his own speed the boost it needed for him to dodge the attack. Just as the needles collided, both Sasuke and Haku jumped out of the way, avoiding the attack. Just as Haku landed, she was forced to jump and dodge a few shuriken aimed at her, and then Sasuke appeared behind her.

Haku ducked underneath Sasuke's knife swipe, only to be kicked in the stomach by Sasuke's foot.

"Haku, you do realize that we'll be driven back at this rate?" asked Zabuza.

"We can't have that," said Haku as an icy chill filled the air around Sasuke. To Sasuke's surprise, and horror, the water around him rose up and formed into a dome of ice mirrors. "Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho (Ice-release: Crystal Ice Mirrors)."

"_What is that jutsu?" _ thought Kakashi, equally as surprised as Sasuke. However, the surprises didn't end there as Haku actually stepped into the mirrors, her reflection appearing on all of them. Knowing that Sasuke was now outmatched, Kakashi moved to assist but was intercepted by his opponent…Zabuza.

"Against that jutsu, your brat's finished," smirked Zabuza.

Back in the ice dome, "Shall we begin?" called out Haku from everywhere. "I'll show you my real speed." Before Sasuke could even register what was said, he was assaulted by various slashes from all around.

Wanting to assist, Sakura threw her knife, hoping to catch Sasuke's attacker and assist her crush. However, Haku merely reached out of the mirror and caught the kunai, only to see a shuriken appear in front of her. She quickly moved the kunai to deflect the shuriken, but it poofed into Naruto, delivering an axe kick to Haku's head and knocking her out of the mirror before dispelling, revealing it to be a clone.

"Now that I'm here, everything will be fine!" declared Naruto out loud, clearly announcing his arrival to the world. "The main character of a story usually shows up in these types of situations and instantly, kicks the enemy's ass!"

Both Kakashi and Zabuza sweat-dropped at this. _"That idiot! What kind of loud entrance is that? And he calls himself a ninja?"_ Kakashi sighed.

"You're kidding me, right?" asked Zabuza.

"I wish," Kakashi said, dropping his head, causing Zabuza to laugh.

Naruto launched a few shuriken towards Zabuza and Haku responded by throwing a few senbon to deflect the shuriken.

"Zabuza-sama, I'll fight them," said Haku.

"_Damn Haku. I don't want to fight you. Why can't you see that I want to help you. You don't need to be that Zabuza's tool to throw away!_" thought Naruto.

From inside the ice dome, Sasuke rose to his feet. _"Those attacks were weak. He wasn't trying to kill me, and I was only scratched. But what's with this jutsu and those mirrors? Are there clones in the mirrors? No, it's way too fast and I can't even see where they're coming from,"_ Sasuke thought, analyzing the situation. _"Well, with me on the inside and Naruto on the outside…"_

"Hey, Sasuke! I came in here to save you!" announced Naruto, prompting Sasuke to smack himself in the face at Naruto's stupidity.

"You moron! If you're a shinobi, then use your head! Why did you come inside the mirrors?! You're such an idiot!" shouted Sasuke.

"What?! I come here to help you out and this is what I get?!" responded Naruto in full force.

Back with Kakashi and Zabuza, _"Naruto…He comes to help and yet only makes things worse," _sighed Kakashi. _"If I just make a shadow clone, he'll counter with water clones. If I leave Sakura and Tazuna to help, he'll just kill them. Damn, it looks like you two are on your own."_

"For a kid to master a jutsu like that…it's a kekkei genkai," deduced Kakashi as he reached for his headband. "Sorry but, I'm going to end this instantly."

Zabuza just let out an evil grin at the sight of Kakashi's Sharingan. "The Sharingan again? Is that all you can do?" Immediately, Zabuza dashed at Kakashi, swinging at him with his sword, but it was a fake as Zabuza attempted to jab Kakashi with a kunai. Kakashi quickly caught the kunai.

"You say this is all I can do, but you're afraid of the Sharingan, Zabuza…" said Kakashi.

"A shinobi's supreme technique is not something that should be shown to an opponent twice," mocked Zabuza. "And even if you can defeat me, you won't win against Haku. "Ever since she was a child, I trained her myself in the ninja arts. And her jutsu surpasses even my own, thanks to her kekkei genkai. Unlike you, I have a high quality tool for myself."

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Just as Zabuza announced his jutsu, the mist grew thicker than ever before and Zabuza became a demon that was hidden by the mist.

"Hehe, you rely on your Sharingan too much," Zabuza called out from everywhere in the mist. Immediately, Kakashi sensed an attack and deflected a number of shuriken. And then he saw him, Zabuza with closed eyes. Moments after revealing himself, Zabuza disappeared back into the mist, waiting to strike again.

Kakashi waited, bracing himself for Zabuza's next strike to come. Realizing that Zabuza was a master of silent killing, Kakashi realized that Zabuza could in fact fight without his sight, so long as he could hear his targets.

Moments passed, and nothing. It was then that Kakashi realized… "Tazuna!"

Immediately, Kakashi shunshined over to where Tazuna and Sakura were, just in time to meet Zabuza's blade, but too late to block it with a kunai or another tool. As such, Kakashi had to resort to using himself and taking a hit, a moderately deep slash across his torso.

"KYAA!" Sakura screamed out upon seeing her sensei injured by Zabuza.

Back in the ice dome,

Naruto and Sasuke were soon assaulted with a barrage of senbon as Haku attacked from all directions. The attacks were also proving to be more damaging than just some scratches. Haku had apparently resolved herself to fight for real now.

Naruto at first was afraid to activate his dojutsu, out of fear of revealing it to Haku, but he immediately realized that he would need it in order to minimize the damage he would take in this fight. Still, Naruto already found himself taking a few senbon to the limbs. Looking over at Sasuke, he saw his comrade was fairing much worse without the aid of a dojutsu to assist him. _"Just a little longer,"_ thought Naruto. _"Why Haku?"_

Sasuke picked himself up off the ground just as he heard a scream echo throughout the mist. _"Damn it…I need to do something! This is getting bad,"_ thought Sasuke. _"But…my eyes are getting accustom to her movements."_

"_I'm aiming for critical areas, yet both of them are dodging…"_ Haku thought. _"Based on my encounter with the blonde boy yesterday, Zabuza was correct in that something is up with him. It's like he can see what's coming, but he's not quite fast enough to dodge all of my attacks. But I should still be able to hit the other one. He must be slowly learning to follow my patterns. This boy…can see something."_

Haku unleashed another round of senbon, only for both of the boys to move out of the way of the attack. _"They shouldn't be able to see my attacks, not at this speed…wait!"_ It was then that Haku saw them, dojutsus. _"That one kid has a Sharingan?" _Indeed, Sasuke's Sharingan had finally revealed itself, blazing away with two tomoe in one eye and a single tomoe in the other.

"I see, the Sharingan. So you are also from an advanced bloodline; however…" Haku turned her attention to Naruto. "I am unfamiliar with those eyes of yours. I've never seen nor heard of eyes like those."

"Naruto…" Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Heh, you're welcome Teme," replied Naruto before turning to Haku. _"Damn Haku. What to do? Either now everything plays out like it should and you end up dying, or I do something to get through to you that your life's worth more than just throwing it away! What to do? Time said I shouldn't try to save you, but I can't help but feeling that if I save you, it won't be the end of the world. I know inside, you're good and don't deserve to die. Fine, Time can just screw with himself. I was given these powers for a reason and just sitting back as everything happens wasn't one of them!"_

"_These kids…I can't fight them for much longer,"_ thought Haku. _"My jutsu uses a lot of chakra, and I can't keep up this speed for much longer. I'll have to end one of them right now. But who?"_ Haku took a quick moment to observe her two options, concluding that it would be best to take out the one who had taken more damage and was more likely to take the attack…Sasuke.

Haku gathered up a good amount of her chakra left and dashed out of the mirrors towards Sasuke. However, Naruto had realized what was happening. From the vision, Sasuke and Naruto had swapped places in who was being targeted. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Sasuke saw himself the target of Haku's next attack and unable to move in time due to the senbon sticking out of his legs. The next thing he knew, Naruto had moved in front of him, taking the attack as a few senbon now stuck through his neck.

"Naruto? Why?" asked Sasuke, unable to believe what he could see.

"Because Teme, I wasn't about to let any of my friends die," spoke Naruto. "And besides, I think it's about time we bring this match to an end." With a last grin on his face, Naruto dropped to the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"_What?! Shadow clone?!" _thought a surprised Sasuke and Haku.

"_So he had a plan all along? Tsk. Well, as he said, looks like it's time to finish this,"_ thought Sasuke. As he went through some hand seals, Haku immediately jumped backwards to avoid the impending jutsu. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Haku was able to make it into the mirror just in time to escape the fireball. When the flames died down, the mirror remained standing. Now Haku was running out of options. The time she could sustain the jutsu was running low and with only one opponent entrapped and another who knows where, she couldn't let this match go on any longer. She would have to hope that this next attack was enough to take out Sasuke.

Just as Haku left the mirror, a kunai flew in front of her. It appeared as if it was going to miss, but just as it was in front of her face, the kunai transformed into Naruto, who immediately, grabbed onto Haku and threw her out of the dome. Moments after she left the dome, it came crumbling down in a hail of ice as the chakra to sustain it was no longer being supplied.

Within moments, Naruto and a few of his clones were on top of Haku, pinning her to the ground. "I said I wouldn't let my friends die, and that includes you too," Naruto said to Haku as he pulled he mask off her face. "I don't get why you can't accept the fact that your life is worth more than just simply throwing it away!"

"While I still am unsure as to what you're talking about, it appears as if I've been beaten," said Haku. For her, she was at her end, with almost no chakra left while she could feel this boy's chakra was still running strong. She would not be able to overpower him in this situation. "I've been defeated and Zabuza-sama has no use for a weak tool…"

'SMACK!'

Naruto's hand hit Haku across the face, leaving a red imprint of a hand on the side. "Stop it! You're not a tool! You're a person, and a good person too."

"Naruto," Sasuke called out as he made his way over to the blonde. "What's going on?"

"It's…I'll explain later," said Naruto, flaring his eyes to Sasuke to give the Uchiha a hint.

"I see," replied Sasuke before falling to his knees. "Damn these needles hurt!"

Back with Kakashi,

The Copy Ninja was having trouble finding Zabuza in this mist, even with his Sharingan. The mist was too concentrated for his gifted dojutsu to see clearly and to make matters worse, he now had a large bleeding gash across his chest. _"I'm going to have to end things here. I don't know how Naruto and Sasuke are holding up and I don't want to risk their safety anymore,"_ thought Kakashi as he pulled out a scroll from his vest. Kakashi smeared some blood on the scroll before slamming it into the ground. "Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu! (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique)."

"Hehe, whatever you do is useless, Kakashi," Zabuza laughed through the mist. "You can't figure out where I am, but I know exactly where you are. You are trapped by my jutsu." Suddenly, Zabuza heard some sort of growling coming from around him and then a stinging pain shot through his legs as he felt the jaws of a dog clamp onto his ankle. Zabuza's eyes shot open to see what was going on, but all he saw were a number of dogs jumping upon him. Before Zabuza could even react, there were eight dogs digging their teeth and claws into Zabuza's flesh.

"That's what happens when you have your eyes shut in the mist," said Kakashi as he walked towards Zabuza through the thinning mist. "This summoning is specifically designed for tracking down an opponent."

"I let my blood spill twice on purpose," explained Kakashi. "These are my cute ninja-hounds. They were easily able to find you from the scent of my blood on your blade. You are the one trapped in my jutsu and the mist is clearing. Your future is death."

"My future is death? I'm sick of your bullshit!" swore Zabuza.

"Don't be foolish. There's nothing you can do in this situation. You will die here. You went too far, Zabzua," said Kakashi. "Your ambition was too great. You abandoned your country and became a missing-nin. Both your attempted coup 'de tat and attempted assassination of the Mizukage failed. You needed money and to avoid the hunter-nins, so you attached yourself to a lowly piece of scum like Gato."

Kakashi flipped through a few more hand seals and grabbed the wrist of his right hand with his left. Suddenly, chakra sparked and crackled around Kakashi. "Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!" Zabuza eyed the crackling chakra in Kakashi's hand with a look of horror. "You are too dangerous. Tazuna-san, who you're trying to kill, is this country's courage. I cannot allow him to die."

"I don't give a damn, I'll fight gor my own ideals, and that shall continue!" declared Zabuza.

"I'll ask once more, surrender," said Kakashi.

Zabuza merely chuckled. "Never!"

Letting out a sigh, Kakasih resolved himself for the kill before charging forward with his one original jutsu, set on piercing Zabuza's heart.

Back with Naruto,

The blonde time-user was getting nowhere with Haku.

"Damnit! What do I need to do to get you to see that your life is more than giving it to this Zabuza-teme?!" shouted Naruto.

However, Naruto saw as something snapped to Haku's attention and the blonde's eyed kicked into full gear as he saw Haku's death…again. Trying desperately to stop Haku from making the ice mirror, Naruto rushed to tackle Haku and prevent her from giving herself up like that. Before Naruto could make it though, Haku had disappeared into a mirror of ice.

"No…" gasped Naruto before looking in the direction where Kakashi was. "Haku! STOP!" Shouted Naruto before he ran towards where Kakashi was about to kill Haku instead of Zabuza.

As Naruto ran though the mist, what he saw when things came into view shocked him the most. There stood Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku. Kakashi was just about to jab Zabuza with his lightning blade, Zabuza was being held in place by numerous dogs, and Haku was preparing herself to take the blow for Zabzua. But they were all frozen there, even the senbon that Haku had thrown just hung there in mid air.

"W-what?" stuttered Naruto.

What also caught Naruto's attention was a bit of the mist that appeared to be shifting and taking on the form of the mysterious Time. "What's going on?" Naruto asked, hoping for an answer.

"It appears as if you've decided to go against what I warned you against," spoke the misty figure of Time.

"Why is everything frozen?!" shouted Naruto.

"It looks as if you've passed the test," said Time.

"What are you talking about? Test?" asked a now confused Naruto.

"Yes. A test of your resolve. Would you allow things to play out like they were meant to, or would you embrace your gift and the powers associated with it," explained Time. "That was the test. And from the looks of it, you've chosen to embrace your gift and try to change things. As such, you've passed the test and unlocked the next ability of your bloodline, Jikan no Teishi (Halting of time jutsu)."

"Jikan no Teishi?" asked a now curious Naruto.

"Yes, it will become one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. However, for now I suspect you will only be able to pause time for a short duration, maybe five seconds at most, although that duration will increase as you develop," said Time.

"Wait…five seconds?! But time's been stopped for more than five seconds," said Naruto.

"That is because I am the one pausing time right now and my limit is much more than five seconds," spoke Time. "Once I leave, then you will have five seconds to do what you must to try and save the girl's life. Also, time will resume should you move an object that's frozen. Now, I should mention this to you, that whenever you use this jutsu, there is an interval you must wait before you can use it again."

"Interval?" asked Naruto. "How long are we talking?"

"For every second that you pause time, you must wait 5 seconds for the flow of time to resume its normal flow," explained Time. "That means that should you pause time for the full 5 seconds of your current limit, you must wait 25 seconds before using that jutsu again. And in your world, 25 seconds is a long time."

"Hold on, I thought last time though you said if I decided to change what I saw, there would be 'unforeseeable consequences' and the 'flow of time would destabilize'," said Naruto.

"Yes, I did say that last time. And yes, should you save the girl, the flow of time will destabilize. But it will eventually re-stabilize," spoke Time. "This will be something that you will notice, but should you change an event, you will notice that you won't be able to use your Shoraigan to see more than a few minutes into the future for some time. This is because the flow of time hasn't fully re-stabilized and the near future is still unpredictable."

"But you just said that the flow will re-stabilize. How long are we talking?" asked Naruto.

"Hmm…I would say maybe a few weeks, perhaps a few months or even a year depending on the severity of the change. However, I doubt you would be without your ability to see further into the future for no more than 3 weeks if you save the girl," spoke Time.

"So if I make any sort of noticeable change to this timeline thing, I won't be able to use my Shoraigan for a certain period of time?" asked Naruto.

"Yes and no. You will still have the few seconds of foresight when using it in combat, but you won't be able to look into the future like you have been," said Time. "And the severity of the change will determine how long you won't be able to see. However, even I can't tell how big of an impact a certain change will have."

"I think I get it now…kind of," said Naruto. "So I have 5 seconds to get Haku out of the line of Kakashi-sensei's attack?"

"Yes," said Time. "Are you ready?"

"I am," spoke Naruto, determined to make sure the young ice-user didn't die on the bridge. _"The moment I touch Haku, time resumes. Kakashi-sensei is too close to Haku and I don't think I could move her in time. I think my only chance is to stop Kakashi-sensei."_

"I will see you again in time, Naruto. Your five seconds starts…now."

As soon as Time began Naruto's timer, the blonde was immediately off towards Kakashi. His target was his sensei's arm, wanting to knock the Raikiri out of the path of impaling Haku, but he also had to block the senbon that Naruto had foreseen were headed towards Kakashi's scroll that he had summoned his dogs with.

Naruto already knew the path he would have to make as he jumped towards Kakashi's arm, knocking the senbon out of the way with his head and restarting time. As soon as the top of his head made contact with the side of the senbon, everything that was frozen instantly began to move again.

"W-what?! N-naruto?!" said an utterly shocked Kakashi as his blonde student tackled his arm, just above the Raikiri and knocked Kakashi's jutsu aside before he tumbled to the ground next to the battle. Everyone watching just looked at the blonde who had instantly materialized out of thin air.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I couldn't let you kill them," apologized Naruto. It was then that Kakashi saw Haku standing in front of Zabuza. Haku especially was to shocked to even move, but Zabuza's surprise quickly turned to laughter.

"Haha Kakashi, I'm destined to die? Even your own student doesn't seem to agree with you," mocked the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

"Naruto, what happened?" asked Kakashi. "Why did you save Zabuza?"

"I don't care what happens to Zabuza, but I couldn't let you kill Haku," said Naruto as he turned to the still shocked kunoichi. "I know how you feel. I know what it's like to be all alone, what it's like to be without a purpose or someone precious. I know what it's like to just want to give up. It's unbearable. You look for the first person who will even acknowledge you, regardless of who that person is. I'm sorry, I know you were ready to give your life up for Zabuza, but I couldn't let you. I couldn't let one of my precious people die."

Haku only stared at the blonde, eyes widened. He wasn't lying and she could clearly see it in her eyes.

Sakura was the next one to come to her senses. "Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun?" she asked as Naruto pointed over towards a limping figure coming through the mist. It was Sasuke, sore and injured from the needles through his legs, but nothing that would kill him.

Suddenly, a truly evil laugh came through the mist. "Ooh…you're getting your ass kicked," called out a smug little voice. Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer to the fray. As the remaining mist dissipated, everyone saw a short man with a sinister grin plastered on his face and about 100 goons and thugs armed with all sorts of sharp and/or pointy objects.

"Gato…why the hell are you here?" growled Zabuza.

"Hehehe, the plan has changed," snickered Gato. "Well, actually I planned on doing this from the beginning. Zabuza, I'm going to have you killed here."

"What?!" growled Zabuza.

"I never planned on paying you any money anyways," admitted Zabuza. "Hiring a normal ninja from the village is expensive and they may betray me. So I hire missing-nins who are easier to take care of afterwards. I have the ninjas battle each other and once they're weakened, I kill them off with numbers. Doesn't cost anything so it's a good plan I say. The only problem in the plan was you…Zabuza. The Demon of the Hidden Mist? What a joke if you ask me. Hehe, you're just a…cute little baby demon."

All of Gato's thugs just laughed. "We can easily kill you now!"

"Kill them all," ordered Gato. "Although, leave the girls alive. The pink haired girl will make some good money on the market after she's trained a bit and I've got some personal business to settle with the other bitch."

"What was that you bastard?!" growled Naruto before he began to run towards Gato and his thugs.

"Naruto! Look at their numbers," advised Kakashi as he caught Naruto by the collar. "Don't just jump in there."

"Kakashi…this fight's over," said Zabuza. "Release me from these hounds and I'll do you the favor of removing Gato's head from his stubbly little body myself. Besides, I won't let anyone talk like that about Haku!"

"Oh, so now you care about her?!" shouted Naruto.

"Shut it brat! I know I used Haku as a tool. In the world of shinobi, there are only those who use and those who are used. We are shinobi and as shinobi, we are nothing more than tools. I originally took Haku for her bloodline, not her; to use her as my tool. However, over the years with her, she became more than just a tool to me. The truth is, she's more of a daughter. Say I don't care for her again and I'll rip that smug little mouth clean off your face," said Zabuza, silencing Naruto. "So how about it Kakashi?"

"Fine," said Kakashi as he called his dogs off. Zabuza was still sore from the numerous dog bites, but he was still able to wield his sword. Zabuza grabbed his oversized blade and quickly dashed towards Gato's army. Like the scared little coward he was, Gato ducked behind his human shield as his thugs prepared for some 'fun'. However, once Zabuza got close, he flared a sizable amount of killing intent, scaring the crap out of many of Gato's thugs. Once in the middle of the fray, and with a single swipe of the sword, over a dozen of Gato's hired goons dropped to the ground, drowning in their own blood.

The Demon of the Hidden Mist then glared towards Gato, scaring the smug tyrant shitless. With his way to Gato now clear, Zabuza slowly and calmly walked towards the small business man, unopposed by the frightened thugs.

"You want to know something Gato? You weren't the only one who planned on killing someone," grinned Zabuza. "Once I was done with my job, I was planning on killing you and guess what…my job IS done seeing that you called it off. So guess what, you can go to hell you smug little bastard! You were looking for a demon? Well I'm certain there are dozens just waiting for a pathetic excuse where you're going!"

With that, Zabuza swung his sword at Gato's neck, easily cleaving through the tissue connecting Gato's head to his body. The short stump of a body that Gato had fell to its knees and his head rolled off the shoulders. Gato was dead.

"Damn you ninja! You killed our meal ticket!" shouted one of thugs before they all went in a panicked frenzy, attacking any ninja in sight. However, they were stopped in their tracks as a barrage of arrows landed at their feet. Standing at the other end of the bridge, were the villagers of Nami no Kuni, led by none other than Inari.

"Inari!" shouted Naruto.

"Heh, a hero always shows up at the last minute, right?" grinned Inari.

Naruto smiled back. "Ok! I can help out! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" About two dozen Narutos appeared along with the army of Nami villagers.

"_My chakra's running low after using the Sharingan, summoning, and Raikiri, but I can at least do that,"_ thought Kakashi. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 10 Kakashis suddenly appeared next to the army of Narutos and villagers.

Adding just a little more, "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Joining the fray were 6 Zabuza water clones. If Gato's thugs weren't sweating before, they were freaking out now.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted one of the thugs as they all hightailed it out of there.

"We did it!" cheered the villagers.

As Zabuza, Naruto, and Kakashi regrouped with the rest of the ninja, Haku had just finished removing the senbon from Sasuke's body and already the young Uchiha was noticing a return in feeling and mobility.

"Naruto, you and I need to talk once we get back to the house," said Kakashi.

Naruto sighed. He had seen that coming. "I know Kakashi-sensei."

"So what are you going to do, Zabuza?" asked Kakashi.

"In all honesty, I don't know. Both of won't be able to move real well for a few days," said Zabuza.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, do you think they could come back to Konoha with us?" asked Naruto.

"Heh, you really are a naïve brat," laughed Zabuza. "But I'll consider the offer. It honestly would be nice to stop running from the hunter-nins."

* * *

Later that night, after much celebrating,

Kakashi had taken his team out to the isolated clearing near Tazuna's house. "So today was certainly an interesting day, wouldn't you say?" asked Kakashi. "I see you unlocked your Sharingan, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and then turned to Naruto. "Did you know?"

"I did. I found out that you would get your Sharingan the day before. But I thought if I told you, things might change and you wouldn't have gotten it," said Naruto. "Yeah, but couldn't you have at least warned me about the needles? I'm still sore, Dobe."

"S-sorry," apologized Naruto.

"Whatever," said Sasuke. "I've got my Sharingan and you said it could have been much worse, so it's fine." _"And now that I have my Sharingan, Itachi, your days are numbered!"_

"On that note, what happened on the bridge Naruto? I didn't even see you move," asked Kakashi. Naruto knew this was what Kakashi was going to ask him and he was prepared to tell Kakashi what had happened on the bridge.

"A new ability, eh? And it sounds like a pretty powerful one too," said Kakashi.

"Yeah, but it's only 5 seconds for now," said Naruto.

"Yes, but in our world, 5 seconds is a lot of time," said Kakashi. "You'd be surprised what you can do in five seconds."

"And Naruto…" said Kakashi. "Next time you plan on doing something like what you did, let me know. Perhaps I can help. I may not be able to predict the future, but I know how the shinobi world works and I may be able to offer some insight."

"I will, Kakashi-sensei. Thank you and I'm sorry about earlier," said Naruto.

"Now, we'll be here for another week or so to recover and help Tazuna-san with the completion of the bridge. With Gato gone, Tazuna-san should be able to work on it all day and without any interruption; however, there are still some remnants of Gato's organization around the island and we may face an attack or two by a few of his bandits," said Kakashi. "Now, I've sent word to the village for an ANBU team to come and clean up Gato's mess. There are certain things that just aren't meant for your eyes."

Kakashi sent a look towards Sakura and immediately she knew Kakashi was talking about some sort of sex slave operation Gato was running. He was right, that wasn't something she'd want to see. Sakura merely shivered at the thought.

* * *

The rest of the week proceeded with much work and celebrations. During the day, much of the village was busy doing what they could to either assist Tazuna on the bridge or something else that would help get their country back on its feet. During the evening, the villagers did what they could to celebrate their liberation from Gato's tyrannical grasp.

By the end of the week, Tazuna's bridge was complete, providing a permanent link between the island nation of Nami no Kuni and the mainland, Hi no Kuni. Already, the village itself was showing signs of improvement as various stores showed increase in items on their shelves, homes were finally seeing much needed repairs, and the villagers themselves had their hopes and dreams returning to them.

A few days earlier, an ANBU team from Konoha arrived and began to dismantle the remnants of Gato's organization. The amount of drugs and smuggled weapons they found were beyond belief, but what truly was disgusting was the human trafficking operation that was located on the island. Hopefully now, with the elimination of Gato, there would be some form of closure for his victims.

To the benefit of everyone, Gato's vast fortune was uncovered on the island with Konoha taking just enough to pay for the missions that Nami had commissioned with the rest of his fortune going to help jumpstart the economy of the island.

Now, a week after the hope of Nami had been restored, its heroes stood at the gate to the newly constructed bridge, ready to depart back to their homes.

"So have you made a decision on what you're going to do, Zabuza?" asked Kakashi.

"I have. As gracious as your offer was, I must decline," said Zabuza. "I have just received word from a close associate of mine that the rebellion against the Mizukage is regaining steam."

"So you intend to finish what you started?" asked a questioning Kakashi.

"Kakashi, the Mizukage is a tyrant just as bad as Gato. HE is responsible for so much violence and death that spread across the country. The rebellion wasn't for any sort of personal gain, but rather to protect something I hold dear to me," said Zabuza. Kakashi took the hint and looked over towards Haku, who was with the genin of Team 7.

"I see," said Kakashi as he raised an eyebrow.

"Then you can understand I hope," replied Zabzua.

"I think so," replied Kakashi. "If you don't mind me asking, who is your acquaintance?"

"Her name is Terumi Mei," said Zabuza. "She took over for me when I was forced to flee."

"I've heard that name before," Kakashi said, intrigued.

"Kakashi, I want to ask a favor of you. I've already talked to Haku about this, but I want you to take her back to Konoha with you. Let her live her life away from the hunter-nins and the violence," Zabuza asked. "She said she wants to join your ninja forces. So long as she's happy, I'm fine."

"Will we see you again?" Kakashi asked.

"Once Kirigakure is secure and free of Yagura's tyranny, I'll visit Konoha to see how Haku's doing," said Zabuza.

"Very well. I shall inform the Hokage of this development," said Kakashi.

"One last thing," said Zabuza eyeing Naruto. "What the hell is up with that orange brat of yours?"

"That's something that I wouldn't even tell your dead corpse," said Kakashi sternly. "What Naruto's abilities are, are none of your concern."

"Fair enough. It was worth a try though," shrugged Zabuza before turning to Haku. "Haku, I am leaving now. I want you to go with these ninja to Konoha and live your life for yourself. I want you to be happy and not have to worry about running. And don't worry, once I have finished my business in Kirigakure, I will come and see you."

"I understand, and thank you," Haku said. _"Otousan."_

Zabuza then proceeded to pull Naruto off to the side. "If I come back and find that you've hurt Haku, I'll decapitate your other head and force you to eat it and die choking on it."

Naruto just looked at the Demon of the Hidden Mist in utter confusion, having absolutely no idea why Zabuza was talking to him like that, but still for some reason couldn't help but feel like he had just been warned.

With that last threat, Zabzua disappeared, leaving Haku in the care of her newest precious people.

* * *

_**Jutsus**_

**Jikan no Teishi:** (Halting of Time Jutsu): This jutsu is one of the jutsus associated with the Jikaton bloodline. It involves literally freezing everything in time except for the user. The time at which this jutsu lasts depends on the user's skill and experience. At this point, Naruto can only freeze time for 5 seconds at most. Also, for every second that time is frozen, 5 seconds are required for every second time is frozen before this technique can be used again.

**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!** (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique):

**Raikiri** (Lightning Blade)

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Jutsu)

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu** (Water Clone Jutsu)

**Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Hidden Mist Jutsu)

**Sensatsu Suisho** (1000 Flying Water Needles of Death)

**Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho** (Ice-release: Crystal Ice Mirrors)

**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu** (Fire-release: Great Fireball Jutsu)

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Here's chapter 5 of Naruto: Time Sage. **

**This concludes the Wave Arc. **

**Regarding pairings, I'm honestly strongly leaning towards pairing Naruto and Haku together. I've had many requests for NaruHina, and that is still by far my favorite pairing for Naruto; however, I already have two active stories which feature NaruHina and I wanted to try one of the lesser used pairings (ex. femHaku, Fuu, Temari, Yugito, ect…). Both NaruFuu and NaruFemHaku interest me as both Haku and Fuu have similar pasts to Naruto. Considering on how determined Naruto is to save Haku during these chapters, I've decided to go the route of femHaku with Naruto. Again, pairings won't be a main part of this story, but they will be present. Also, I do plan on doing SasuSaku.**

**As for updating this story, I'm going to try and update this story every other week by Tuesday at the latest. I'm not 100% set on that update schedule, but I'm going to see how well that fits with updates to the Uzumaki Tales and Rewriting the Past (my other two active stories). In short, expect an update for this story (ch 6) around Sept 24, 2013 although I do reserve the right to post the chapter a day or two either way.**

**That's it for now,**

**Please Review/Comment.**


	7. New Beginnings

_**Chapter 6: New Beginnings**_

_**Posted: September 24, 2013**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

"An interesting mission you most certainly had," addressed the Hokage to Team 7. "I still think you should have returned to the village, but in the end, everything worked out for the best. Gato is dead, Nami no Kuni is freed from a tyrant, and your team has appeared to have grown much stronger as a result of the experience."

"I agree, Hokage-sama. Even though the mission never should have happened in the first place, I feel as if it was a good way to introduce my team to the true nature of the shinobi world," said Kakashi.

"And it appears as if you've brought a guest back with you," said the Sandaime as he turned his attention towards Haku. "And who may this be?"

"Hello, Hokage-sama," Haku bowed. "I'm Yuki Haku."

"Ah yes, the apprentice of Momoichi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist," spoke Hiruzen. "And if you don't mind me asking, what are your intentions in this village?"

"I came here looking for a new beginning and, I was hoping, to join your village's shinobi ranks," said Haku.

"Well, I don't see that being much of a problem, so long as those _are _your true intentions," questioned Hiruzen.

"What are you talking about Jiji? Haku's a good person! She wouldn't mean to harm the village," Naruto defended his newest friend.

"Naruto…" hushed Kakashi.

"While that may be, realize this is still a shinobi village. Haku here may not have any records as a shinobi and as such she has a clean slate amongst the villages; however, I am not going to be blindly extending an open arm to anyone," said Hiruzen.

"What is it you ask of me to prove my loyalty?" requested Haku.

"Simply submit to a mental evaluation. That should clear up any grey areas regarding your intentions to join the village. If everything passes, then I see no problems with allowing you to apply for citizenship and to join our ranks," said Hiruzen. "Do you agree to my terms?"

"If it means being able to start a new life with my friends, then yes," said Haku.

"Excellent," smiled the Hokage before motioning to an ANBU in the room. A cat-masked ANBU appeared in front of Hiruzen's desk. "Neko, please escort Miss Yuki to Yamanaka Santa in the interrogation department."

Neko turned to Haku with an intrigued look. "Please follow me, and don't try anything."

Haku nodded and remained on guard as she followed the purple-haired ANBU.

"Kakashi-sensei, why does it seem like they're treating Haku-chan like a…" Naruto struggled to find the words.

"Like a foreigner?" finished Kakashi. "Because she is. This is how a shinobi village operates."

"Naruto," spoke Hiruzen. "I know what you're thinking. While we welcome the addition of new talent to the village, it is also my job as Hokage to be on the lookout for any spies that may try and steal our secrets or sabotage our operations."

"But Haku-chan's not a spy!" returned Naruto.

"I'm not saying she is. But as Hokage, it is my duty to help keep the village safe, both from outside threats and those inside. I'm just being cautious," said the Hokage.

"If you think she's true Naruto, then just wait a few hours for the evaluation to conclude. If everything checks out, she'll be free and allowed to join the village in no time," said Kakashi.

"I should have the results in about three hours if any of you want to stop by later," said Hiruzen. "Now, I would like a word with Kakashi. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, you are dismissed."

"Why don't you three go to Ichiraku. I'll be there shortly," said Kakashi.

"ALRIGHT! Kakashi-sensei's treating us to ramen!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Really? Thanks Kakashi-sensei," chirped Sakura.

Kakashi simply waved them off, however he could feel the money drain out of his wallet and into that bottomless pit of a stomach Naruto had.

"Now Kakashi, is it true? Does she have the Hyoton bloodline?" asked Hiruzen with great interest.

"It is sir," confirmed Kakashi.

"I see. Then let us hope everything goes well. The last of the true ice-users would certainly be a great boon for this village," said Hiruzen. "Now, even I believe that everything will check out for our young friend. In that case, I would like to ask something of you."

"You want me to take her on my team," said Kakashi, receiving a nod from Hiruzen. "But I already have three students to train."

"I am aware of that, and while normal teams consist of no more than four squad members, it is not unknown to have a team of five," said Hiruzen. "Besides, I feel that since your team is already acquainted with Yuki-san, I believe that is where she would be the most comfortable."

Kakashi sighed. "Sadly I do agree with you, and I must be honest, she has taken a liking towards Naruto."

"Oh, did someone mention something about my godson and a girl?"

"Sigh…can't you use the door, Jiraiya?" sighed Hiruzen as Konoha's one and thankfully only super pervert hopped into the office.

"Well I would have if you hadn't demanded I get back here ASAP. I was almost done with my next book when I received your summons!" argued Jiraiya. "It truly is going to be the next literary masterpiece."

"I apologize Jiraiya, but what I summoned you here for is more important than Icha Icha." Both Kakashi and Jiraiya looked at the aging Hokage like he had just sprouted a second head.

Jiraiya then sighed. "Alright sensei, what do you have this time?"

"Do you remember that bloodline that we were hoping would awaken in Minato when he was still young?" asked Sarutobi.

"Yeah. It's probably the biggest reason why you worked your ass off to get the last remnants of the Namikaze clan here in Konoha. While being able to see into the future is nice, I don't see the point of going to such lengths to obtain a bloodline that only appears once a millennia, even if now is around the time is should be manifesting itself," said Jiriaya.

"It doesn't only grant the wielder to see into the future," corrected Kakashi. "It also allows the user the ability to manipulate time itself. Such as freeze time."

"Hold on. No offence Kakashi, but why are you here?" asked Jiraiya. "I thought the existence of the Jikaton bloodline was to remain top secret with sensei and myself being the only two aware of it."

"That was the case, until MY student just so happened to awaken that bloodline," said Kakashi.

Jiraiya's eyes widened in disbelief. "No shit. Naruto has the Jikaton?"

"He does," replied Sarutobi.

* * *

"Naruto! Slow down. You're going to get sick!" warned Sakura as Naruto just finished inhaling his sixth bowl of ramen while Sakura and Sasuke were barely half way done with their first.

"But its ramen," mumbled Naruto with a mouthful of noodles. Sakura just sighed in defeat.

"Yo!"

Everyone turned to see Kakashi enter the ramen stand and the first thing the one-eyed jonin saw was the stack of bowls by Naruto. He could already feel his wallet strangling him to death.

"Kakashi-sensei, what did the Hokage want with you?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, he just wanted to know a few more details about the mission and such," said Kakashi.

"Speaking of which, is there any word about Haku-chan?" asked Naruto.

"Naruto, it hasn't even been 30 minutes," said Kakashi.

"But can't they speed it up already?!" blurted out Naruto.

Kakashi merely sighed. "Why don't we go and train for a bit. There's something I want to start to work on with Sakura and both you and Sasuke could use the practice fighting with your eyes. Besides, it'll help pass time." _"And save what's left of my paycheck."_

Minutes later, Team 7 found themselves at their regular training ground. "Right. Now Naruto, you and Sasuke I want to spar while using your eyes. It'll help both of you get used to the predictive abilities associated with both of your eyes," said Kakashi as Naruto and Sasuke both nodded and went off to a separate area of the training ground to spar. "Now as for you, Sakura, I have something special in mind."

"Naruto and Sasuke both have you bested in terms of stamina and chakra reserves," said Kakashi. Sakura actually seemed a bit deflated by this. "However, your smaller reserves have resulted in a much greater degree of chakra control, so much so that you were able to pass the water-walking and tree-climbing exercises within the first five minutes of beginning the exercise, something not seen since Tsunade Senju. This leads me to believe that there are two different fields that you can excel at, genjutsu and medical ninjutsu. I have little to no knowledge in medical jutsus, although I can get you a book on that if you want, but I can teach you the basics of genjutsu."

"Wow, really?" exclaimed Sakura, excited by the prospect of genjutsu. "But umm, what about Sasuke-kun? Or Naruto?"

"Don't worry that. I'll train them as well, but right now I need to get them more accustom to using their dojutsus in battle. That is why I'm having the two of them spar each other, although…" Kakashi glanced over towards Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto, already able to see Sasuke's moves with his Shoraigan, wasn't finding it hard to predict Sasuke's attacks, however he was starting to get a bit frustrated with Sasuke being able to read his own attacks and react accordingly. With Sasuke's recent acquisition of the Sharingan, the advantage Naruto had in a taijutsu spar was severely dampened.

"Damnit Teme! Let me hit you!" shouted Naruto, causing Kakashi to sweat drop.

"What's the matter Dobe? Now that you're up against someone who can read moves just as well as you can foresee them…and I thought there was more to that so called fabled bloodline of yours," taunted Sasuke. Sasuke's taunt got through to Naruto and Sasuke received a swift kick to the gut, compliments of Naruto. The blonde had been standing at least 5 meters away from Sasuke and had disappeared from his original position and immediately reappeared with his foot in Sasuke's gut.

"Bet your Sharingan didn't see that coming, Teme!" retorted Naruto.

"Damnit Dobe! This is supposed to be taijutsu only!" shouted Sasuke. "Last I checked, that time-freezing jutsu was considered NINJUTSU!"

Kakashi and Sakura just decided it would be best to ignore their teammates antics.

"_I really do need to teach Naruto how to use that jutsu properly. If that was a real battle against an enemy ninja, Naruto could have been able to kill his opponent right there," _thought Kakashi. However, when it came down to it, Naruto really wasn't the killer-type. Now that he thought about it, he should have had his team make their first kill against some of Gato's thugs. While he didn't enjoy killing himself, Kakashi knew it was a necessity in the ninja world to kill your enemies and those who threaten everything precious to you. This was one lesson he'd have to teach his team sooner or later. And if Kakashi's suspicions were correct, he'd have two months to prepare them for the realities of the ninja world before it was truly required of them.

Kakashi continued on, giving Sakura a general run-down on genjutsu and even provided her with a scroll on a basic genjutsu, Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique). He instructed her to work on it during her own time; however, the prospect of training on her own was something Sakura sadly was reluctant to do. She'd rather spend the time daydreaming over Sasuke.

Later that afternoon, finally the time had come to hear the verdict on Haku's evaluation. After an entire four hours of rigorous sparring with Sasuke, the rest of Team 7 couldn't help but just stare as the blonde darted towards the Hokage's Tower. How he had that much energy left in him was a mystery…well Kakashi had a pretty good idea.

"Jiji!" shouted Naruto as he burst through the door, only to find three ANBU on the left side of the room with Haku bound in shackles and the mood of the room was entirely grim. "What's going on? Jiji, why is Haku-chan in chains?"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," sighed Haku as she lowered her head.

"Something came up during the investigation Naruto. We have discovered that Haku here is in reality an assassin sent to infiltrate the village and assassinate me," said the Hokage. "As such, Haku will be imprisoned until such time that she will be executed." Naruto looked at the Hokage, who had the most serious look on his face anyone present had ever seen, hoping for some respite. There was no way Haku could be an assassin.

Naruto just froze, at a complete loss of words before chuckling was heard behind one of the ANBU masks.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but I can't hold it any longer," said the tiger masked male ANBU with short brown hair before he and the remainder of the ANBU burst out into laughter.

"Huh?" asked a very confused Naruto as he noticed both the Hokage and Haku were laughing as well.

"Oh you should have seen the look on your face," laughed one of the ANBU.

"That's what you get for putting itching powder in our pants and gluing our kunai to our hands," smirked another ANBU underneath their mask. That was not a pretty day at all the ANBU had the strong urge to scratch the itch in their crotch regions, however the kunais stuck to their hands forced them to suffer though the entire day without being able to relieve the itch. That was defiantly not a pretty day at all.

"Hokage-sama," bowed Kakashi as the rest of Team 7 entered into the office, just in time to catch the end of the ANBU's prank.

It took another 10 minutes for Naruto to break from his stupor. "So Haku-chan is…"

"Everything looks good for Haku," smiled the Hokage as the shackles were released on the ice-wielding kunoichi. "Now, about the matter of Haku joining the village ranks. Unfortunately, because you have no formal shinobi training, the best I am able to do is grant you the rank of genin. Furthermore, all the current teams are filled, so I have decided to add you as a fifth member to a team that is already in existence."

"I understand, Hokage-sama. If I may ask, who is my team?" Haku bowed.

"They are actually in this room," said Hiruzen. Haku turned to see Kakashi waving and a surprised look upon Naruto's, Sakura's, and Sasuke's (well, as surprised as Sasuke could get) faces. "I have already discussed this with Kakashi and he has agreed to take you on as a fourth student. This goes against norms, but I feel as if Team Kakashi is the best place for you, young lady."

"Now, I'll leave you all to get acquainted with one another," said the Hokage. "In fact, I've got something I wish to discuss with Kakashi. Why don't you call it a day and give Haku a tour of the village. Haku, please stop by later this evening and I'll have some form of living arrangement made up for you."

"So Sasuke-kun, do you want to…um perhaps we could go and get something to eat," asked Sakura.

"No. I've gotta go train. Later," waved Sasuke as he walked away to go and do Sasuke stuff. A dejected Sakura slumped off, tempted to follow her crush.

"Hey wait! I thought we were going to show Haku around the village?!" shouted Naruto. There was no response as his teammates went their separate ways. "Well, it looks like it's just us, Haku…huh?"

"Yo, Naruto!" waved Chouji with the rest of his team following closely behind. It wasn't too hard for Naruto to figure out where they were going as Barbe-Q was in the direction Team 10 was walking.

"Huh? Who's your friend?" asked Shikamaru curiously.

"Oh hey guys. This is Haku. She just recently became a ninja of the village and was put on my team," said Naruto, introducing his new friend. The mentioning of Haku being added to Sasuke's team immediately fanned Ino's fire and the blonde kunochi shot Haku a glare that could freeze even the ice-user. There was no way she was going to have one more girl competing for Sasuke's attention.

"Well why don't the two of you join us then at Barbe-Q?" offered Asuma. "I think it'd be a great way to welcome Haku here to the village."

As Naruto, Haku, and Team 10 cheered and walked towards Barbe-Q, a pair of pale lavender eyes peered out of a nearby alleyway.

"_Who is Naruto-kun's new friend? And why is Naruto-kun so happy to be around her? Oh no…she couldn't be…"_ Hinata immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario…that Haku was somehow Naruto's girlfriend, although the blonde was simply just being friendly and even more oblivious than a rock when it came to love, romance, relationships, and anything having to deal with the fairer sex.

* * *

The Hokage's Office,

"What is it you wanted to talk about, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi.

"Kakashi, as you are probably aware, the chunin exams will be coming to Konoha in two months," said Hiruzen.

"But Hokage-sama, they've only been a team for no more than two months already, and with the addition of Haku…" responded Kakashi.

"I am aware of that. However, with your report from your most recent mission, it appears as if your team is coming together rather well. And besides, all of them are rather fond of our newest kunoichi," said Hiruzen. "I do not think you will find a problem with the balance of the team."

"That's not the issue, Sir. I'm worried that they aren't ready for something like the chunin exams," said Kakashi. "They're too…soft."

"Well, it's your job as their sensei to teach them the ninja ways, even the darker side of the profession," said Hiruzen. "Ultimately, the choice as to whether or not they will enter is yours, but I would like you to take an honest try at readying them. Much of the village is excited to see the Uchiha's skill and I would also imagine the revelation that this village has gained a new and powerful bloodline will certainly entice clients to choose our services."

"New and powerful bloodline? Are you talking about Naruto or Haku?" asked Kakashi.

Hiruzen thought for a moment. "Well, both I guess. Although I would still prefer to remain quiet on the resurgence of the Jikaton. I'll give you and your team a light mission load over the next few weeks, giving you plenty of time to train them appropriately. I also understand the other jonin are interesting in their teams participating. This would be the first time in five years that rookies are in the chunin exams, wouldn't that be interesting?"

"It would, but…"

"Now Kakashi, I know what you may be feeling about them rushing into the exams, but didn't you make the rank of chunin at the age of 6? Only half the age that your team is?" said Hiruzen. "Again, the choice is entirely yours, but the expectations on this most recent group of genin are high and I would certainly like to see if any of them can rise to the occasion."

* * *

Over five weeks had passed since Kakashi's meeting with the Hokage regarding the upcoming chunin exams and the Hokage had strongly suggested to Kakashi that his team take the chunin exams. It had also been two weeks since Team 7 became a 5-man squad with the addition of Haku. The ice-user had been quickly integrated into the team, seeing as everyone had a chance to get to know the girl back in the wave. Over those two weeks, Kakashi had taken the time refining what his team already knew. He was able to complete the training he begun with Naruto and Sasuke and both were able to use the full version of the Shunshin no Jutsu. They still weren't quite proficient with it in combat, but they had the basis of using chakra to enhance their movements down. With enough coaxing, Kakashi had managed to get Sakura to progress on her genjutsu training, having mastered the jutsu he had given her. Given Sakura's chakra control and keen mind, it was actually rather easy for her, but the hardest part was motivating her to do something other than fawn over Uchiha teammate.

Both Naruto and Sasuke had become more accustom to using their eyes in combat and Sasuke had even gained the second tomoe on both of his eyes thanks to the continuous usage of them. Just one more tomoe and Sasuke's Sharingan would have matured fully and Kakashi could train his student how to use the hypnotic effect to influence his opponent's moves, giving Sasuke a pseudo-foresight.

Speaking of foresight, Naruto found that he still wasn't quite able to see more than a few hours into the future as it appeared the flow of time was still trying to reestablish itself; however, the fact that he could actually see into the future outside of his combat foresight told him that it wouldn't be much longer before he had the full abilities of the Shoraigan back.

Other than that, most of that time was spent refining what his team knew and improving their physical condition. He was beginning to see that in his students as both Naruto and Sasuke were beginning to show a little more muscle tone.

As of now, Kakashi was with his team once again for their morning training session. He had not even mentioned the chunin exams yet and to the rest of his team, they just thought these workouts were their normal routine. Of course, they were nowhere near as strenuous as those of a certain green beast, but still…

For the past few nights, Kakashi had been seriously debating whether or not to begin his students on elemental manipulation, considering both Haku and Sasuke were both familiar with the subject. He knew the road to mastering their own respective elements would take time; much more time than he had until the start of the exams, but that didn't mean he couldn't give them each a simple elemental jutsu to start out with.

Kakashi went over the explanation on how to discover what your main element was and handed each of his students a piece of chakra paper. Naruto went first, his paper splitting into two.

"Well it looks like you have wind, Naruto," smiled Kakashi. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. He knew how wind complimented fire and the fact that Naruto could use wind intrigued him greatly. _"Just like Sensei."_

"Wind?" asked Naruto, hoping for a little more explanation.

"It's actually a good element for you. Wind is one of the most effective elements for a close range offensive as it acts like an extremely sharp blade. It's a rare element in Hi no Kuni, but extremely powerful once mastered," explained Kakashi.

"Wow! I'm going to be so awesome!" exclaimed Naruto.

Kakashi just chuckled at the blonde's enthusiasm. "Alright Sasuke, you're next," said Kakashi.

"But I already know my element's fire," responded Sasuke.

"I know, but it wouldn't hurt now, would it?" replied Kakashi. Sasuke just shrugged and took the paper. Sasuke once again raised his eyebrow at the paper's reaction. He was an Uchiha so he had expected it to burst into flames, not crinkle. Even Kakashi was surprised by this.

"Well, it appears as if our Uchiha may not be an Uchiha at all," joked Kakashi. Sasuke shot Kakashi a glare and was answered with an eye smile. "Just kidding. But lightning, that certainly is interesting. Coincidentally, lightning's my primary element." At least this was good news to Sasuke. If Kakashi was a lightning-user, that meant that he would have some pretty powerful lightning jutsus that Sasuke could ask for later. All in all, this was actually a pleasant surprise for Sasuke as this meant that he would have a fair amount of skill in not one, but two elements already.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, so you mentioned the 5 elements were fire, lightning, wind, water, and earth. But what about Haku?" asked Naruto. "Where does ice fit into elemental jutsus?"

"Glad you asked. Ice is actually considered a sub-element, a perfect mixture of two or more elements to form a completely separate third element," Kakashi explained. "If I'm correct, ice would be water and wind." Haku nodded at Kakashi's assumption. Kakashi handed Haku a piece of paper and Haku channeled her chakra through it. As Kakashi had predicted, Haku's paper had split in two, while becoming soaked at the same time, but not before freezing into two separate shards of ice. "I've always wondered what would happen when someone with a sub-element would do that."

"Okay Sakura, your turn," said Kakashi. Sakura did the same and watched as her paper crumbled to dust. "You have earth."

Kakashi then turned to his team. "Okay, I think we'll call it a day. Meet here tomorrow and I'll have a simple jutsu for each of your pertaining to your element. Haku, sadly the village doesn't have any ice techniques, but are you familiar with the Suiton: Suiben? (Water-style: Water Whip)"

Haku shook her head. "Okay, I'll give you that one. I've already got a theory on how you can make that jutsu work for you," said Kakashi. While a village wouldn't just go around handing out jutsus to new ninja, especially ones who have trained under an A rank missing-nin, the water whip was a fairly simple jutsu that Konoha had acquired from Kiri, meaning that it was practically common knowledge now and Haku wouldn't have a problem learning it.

As Kakashi slowly began walking away, he eyed the pile of dirt on the ground that was Sakura's paper. Bending down to examine the dirt, he felt a sort of cool moisture. _"It's wet,"_ he thought as he looked up towards his team who was walking away.

The next day, Kakashi appeared, a few hours late as always, carrying four scrolls for his students. He gave Haku the scroll on the Suiton: Suiben (Water whip) like he had said and also an idea or two on adding her ice chakra to the jutsu. Naruto was given Futon: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough), a basic wind jutsu. Sasuke was given Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder). Sakura was given Doton: Doryuheki (Earth-style wall). Kakashi also gave them a few scrolls on basic elemental manipulation and told them to work on it during training, on their own, and while they waited for him in the morning. However, now they had a mission that they would have to accomplish, one which Kakashi knew would change his team.

* * *

At the Konoha gates,

"Alright! Another C rank mission!" exclaimed Naruto, happy to be back in action and no longer doing those stupid chores (aka. D ranks). They were currently waiting on Kakashi, which really wasn't anything out of the ordinary, including the fact that he had still managed to be an hour late to the gate.

"So what is it this time Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto excitedly. "Are we saving a princess or freeing another country?"

Everyone sweat dropped at their blonde teammate's usual enthusiasm.

"No, it's nothing like our previous C rank mission," said Kakashi. "There's a bandit camp about half-a-day west of Konoha that's been disrupting trade routes, robbing merchants, along with other things."

"So we are just going to arrest a couple of thugs?" asked Sakura. "Well I guess that won't be too bad."

"Well, I never said anything about arresting them," said Kakashi.

"Then what? Are we just going to tell them to leave?" asked Sakura.

"_Sigh…so innocent,"_ thought Kakashi. "Our orders are to eliminate the bandits causing problems along the road."

"Eliminate? But how?" asked Naruto.

"How else? By killing them of course," replied Kakashi. Everyone just froze at Kakashi's statement. Sasuke and Haku remained rather neutral on the subject, but Naruto and Sakura, both whom Kakashi would consider innocent in the shinobi world, looked mortified. Their sensei was actually asking them to kill someone?

"We are ninja. I know Haku is already familiar with this and Sasuke's no stranger to the shinobi world. We are not 'good guys' nor are we 'bad guys'. We are ninja and as such there are times when we may have to kill in order to accomplish our objectives. However, even I know killing someone is no easy task, but there are times when it has to be done. I'll warn you now, a shinobi's first kill is never taken lightly. Most shinobi break down after their first kill, which is why it is my job as your sensei to provide you with the most controlled environment possible when it comes to your first kill," said Kakashi. That still didn't help to calm Naruto and Sakura down.

* * *

"Are we ready?" Kakashi's voice called out over the radio.

"Ready," called out Haku over the radio.

"I'm in position," replied Sasuke.

"…I'm…ready," said Naruto slightly hesitantly.

"…"

"Sakura?"

"Huh? Oh…I'm ready…I guess," said Sakura, even more hesitant than Naruto.

Looking down over the small bandit camp, there weren't many people, six at most, present. There were three tents that surrounded a central fire. Two of the bandits were behind the tents, keeping a look out, while two more sat around the fire. Their intel had said that there were six bandits, so the remaining two had to be inside the tents. These were nothing more than common thugs armed with swords or clubs or anything they could get their hands on. Their chakra levels were low. If any of them had any sort of shinobi training, it wasn't beyond the first or second year at the Academy.

"Okay. On my mark. Go!" ordered Kakashi. Sasuke was the first to make a move, activating his Sharingan and silently jumping down behind one of the bandits that were patrolling the back of their camp. As the bandit turned around to see what had just landed behind him, all he felt was cold steel slash across his neck and his world go dark.

The other bandit turned to see what the ruckus was, after hearing a second thud as his partner dropped to the ground dead. Just as he saw Sasuke and the corpse of his partner, he felt two sharp pricks hit him in the neck and he two dropped dead as Haku's senbon were spot on, piercing the carotid artery in his neck.

From his outpost in the trees, Kakashi could see that Sasuke, despite jumping in and making his kill first, was phased as he just stared at the dead body of his victim. This was as expected. Haku however, despite looking saddened, showed no other signs that this was the first time she had killed. Of course, being trained by Momoichi Zabuza, Kakashi had expected that she had killed at some point.

He looked over towards Naruto and Sakura, who still had yet to make a move on the two bandits by the fire. He was about to say something before he witnessed Naruto steel himself and make his move, activating his Shoraigan and jumping down behind one of the tents.

Kakashi looked on, waiting for Naruto to do something before the bandits were onto them. But then he realized what Naruto had done as the kunai that was in the blonde's hand suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the side of one of the bandit's head.

Over the past weeks, Kakashi had worked with Naruto on how to effectively use his newest bloodline technique. He had Naruto freeze time and make the attack then, during the five second interval where his enemy would have absolutely no way to defend against his strike. It appears as if Naruto had decided to test it out for real instead of just on a dummy or Sasuke during a spar.

Kakashi looked over towards Sakura, who was still situated in the tree. She should have gone with Naruto to take out the fourth bandit at the fire, but she had yet to move.

"HEY! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" shouted the bandit that Kakashi had planned for her to deal with. Kakashi sighed as two more bandits came rushing out of the tents, wielding something sharp and pointy. Kakashi had said he was going to control the situation for his students and now he no longer was willing to send Sakura in with three weapon-wielding thugs.

In one swift motion, Kakashi shunshined behind the three bandits and immediately dug a pair of kunai into the backs of the two on the side before disappearing again. The next thing the remaining bandit knew, he was being dragged underground so that only his head and neck were exposed.

Making a hand signal, Kakashi gathered the rest of his team. He could see that Naruto was already queasy and on the verge of throwing up, an expected reaction to a shinobi's first kill. Sasuke, although not as bad as Naruto, was also showing standard signs on unease. However, Sakura still looked rather mortified. She had just witnessed her own team kill five men.

"The last one's yours, Sakura," said Kakashi.

"Wait…WHAT?! YOU CAN'T KILL ME!" protested the trapped bandit. "Please, I'll give you anything. There's plenty of money in the tents. Go ahead and take it. Just please don't kill me!"

"Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, looking for some form of relieve from this task.

"I'll do it," sighed Sasuke. He was always having to do her part of the mission. It was irritating that all she did was fawn over him rather than pull her own weight.

"No Sasuke. I'm ordering Sakura to do it," said Kakashi in a commanding voice, despite the pleas and protests of the bandit. Kakashi then turned to the screaming head. "You should have thought about that before you and your friends raped our client's wife, kidnapped their daughter, and threatened to sell her off as a slave if they didn't pay your ridiculous price."

This immediately struck a chord within Sakura and she steeled herself to make the kill, driving a kunai straight down into the man's skull. Moments later, she rushed into the woods as the nauseous feeling in her stomach was too much. Naruto soon followed suit.

It took Kakashi about 20 minutes to bring his team back from the aftershock of experiencing their first kill. He hated to do it, but if they were to enter the chunin exams like the Hokage had planned, then this was a needed eye opener for them. Already, Kurenai and Asuma had put their teams through this and they were also talking of entering their teams as well.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei…was that true what you said?" asked Sakura, being the first to speak.

Kakashi turned around before entering one of the tents and emerging shortly after with a young girl, maybe 6 years old at the most, and bound in ropes. "It was. Our client hired us to rescue his daughter after they were attacked and this girl, Mira, was taken from them," said Kakashi. He then turned to the girl, who was shivering as Kakashi removed the bonds. "It's okay Mira-chan. We're friends of your father and are going to bring you back to him." The girl's face instantly lit up at hearing she was going to be reunited with her dad.

"Like I said before. This is the shinobi world. Sometimes you are forced to kill to accomplish your mission objective," said Kakashi. "This is just something you will all have to deal with. However, it doesn't mean you have to like killing. We're humans, not monsters. Even I don't enjoy killing, but I know when it's necessary in order to protect those I hold dear. You will encounter numerous enemies as you all grow older and those enemies will threaten to take away everything you hold dear; your family, your friends, your comrades, and even the very village you live in. As a shinobi, we fight and kill to protect that which is precious to us. The hardships we endure make us stronger and drive us forward; because that's what a shinobi is…one who endures and moves forward. The four of you killed to protect this little girl and to save her from scum that would willingly sell her off. So long as you only kill to protect that which is precious, you'll keep the morals that make us human."

"I was getting a little worried there, but all of you have passed this important lesson," said Kakashi. "The shinobi world isn't just about catching cats and weeding gardens. One day, you guys will have more important duties where failure could mean the death of someone close to you…" Kakashi trailed off.

It took a few moments of silence before Kakashi began speaking again. "Anyways, I think I'm going to let you three in on a little secret. The Chunin Exams will be coming to Konoha in a few weeks and the Hokage sees great potential in your generation. I've been thinking about recommending your four for the exam."

"REALLY?!" exclaimed Naruto. "Wait…what are the chunin exams?"

Kakashi nearly faulted. "Well, based on the name, I'd guess they're the exams we take to become chunin," said Sakura.

"Correct," said Kakashi. "However, the chunin exams are very difficult and extremely dangerous. Should you fail, there is a chance you could die; however, do well and it will bring rewards not only for you, but the village as well."

* * *

Two more weeks had passed and the chunin exams were now only about a week away. During that time, Team 7 had each managed to complete their first elemental jutsu and Kakashi was having them complete the first phase in elemental training.

Just after coming back from their C-rank mission to eliminate the bandits, Naruto had regained the full use of his eyes and now found he was able to see 2 days ahead (before the wave, it was only a day and it will increase as time goes on).

With the chunin exams fast approaching, Kakashi saw this as a good opportunity to give Sasuke some private training (like he did with Sakura's genjutsu and Naruto's timing of the Jikan no Teishi) in the Sharingan. Seeing as Sasuke's eyes had two tomoe each, he would be able to copy jutsus without much of a problem. Once Sasuke got the third tomoe in his eyes, then Kakashi would be able to teach the young Uchiha about the hypnotic effects of the Sharingan. To help Sasuke learn how to copy jutsus, Kakashi gave Sasuke a few simple jutsus. The only catch? He had to copy them from the Copy Ninja himself.

Immediately upon establishing herself in Konoha, Haku could see just how welcoming they could be to someone like her. She had never expected them to look so warmly upon someone like her. However, slowly she did begin to notice one thing that troubled her and that was the way the villagers looked at Naruto. Sure he could be a little loud and energetic at times, but that didn't warrant some of the hate–filled looks he was receiving from the villagers. To her, Naruto was one of the kindest people she knew and she just couldn't understand why the villagers looked at him like she was looked at back in Kiri. Even still, after seeing the way Naruto pushes forward with that smile on his face despite the villager's attitude towards him only made her admire the blonde more.

And then there was Sakura. Kakashi was glad that she was starting to move, if only slightly, out of her fan girl phase. After that mission where she was forced to kill one of the bandits, Sakura actually did begin taking her shinobi training a little more seriously. She still fawned over Sasuke like he was the only male human in the world, but it helped that she was starting to actually train more and more. She had surprised Kakashi by nearly mastering the Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique) and Kakashi figured he might as well move her onto something a little more challenging. However, what was still confusing him was her chakra affinity testing. At first, he only noticed the earth aspect of the paper, but after feeling it, the dirt was rather wet, indicating a potential water element.

As it was, Team 7 was waiting on the bridge oh so patiently for their sensei to show, who was now running on two-and-a-half hours late. It was then that a square 'rock' came slinking nearby and everyone just stared.

"Oh come on Konohamaru! What kind of rock is perfectly square with eye holes?!" shouted Naruto.

"That's what I'd expect from the man viewed as my rival!" exclaimed Konohamaru as he, Moegi, and Udon crawled out from under the box.

"Hey, what's with the goggles?" asked Naruto.

"We're copying the old you, Naruto-niichan!" exclaimed Konohamaru.

"Pft. Why would anyone want to copy that Dobe," snuffed Sasuke.

"What's with him?" asked Konohamaru.

"Eh, we've been trying to figure that out for ages," replied Naruto. Sasuke's eye twitched as he went back to minding his own business.

"Anyways, so can you come play ninja with us boss?!" shouted an excited Konohamaru.

"Why would a ninja 'play ninja'?" asked Sakura. The kids were starting to get on just about everyone's nerves. Of course they're chronically late sensei didn't help the matter anyways.

"Hey Boss, who's the girl?" asked Konohamaru before putting up his pinky finger. "Oh I see. Is she your…"

"Oh hell no you little brat!" shouted Sakura.

"Yeah, now I see. That forehead on her really is ugly," said Konohamaru mere seconds before he found himself doing the only thing he could at the moment…running for his dear life. Somehow Naruto got dragged into it and was running from Sakura along with Konohamaru and the gang. Sasuke and Haku just sighed as Kakashi finally decided to appear at just that moment.

Konohamaru was running so fast, just intent on getting away from the Pink Fury of Death right on his tail that he didn't notice the man standing in front of him as he slammed into the man's legs.

"OUCH! Watch it you little punk!" shouted a person dressed in what appeared to be cat pajamas wearing make-up - I mean war paint – on his face. "That hurt you little piece of shit!"

"Konohamaru!" shouted Naruto.

The make-up wearing man grabbed Konohamaru by his scarf and lifted the child into the air. "Kankuro, stop! We'll get in trouble!" the girl with blonde hair tied in four pig-tails and wielding a large fan on her back said.

"Oi! Fat Ass! Let him go!" demanded Naruto.

Kankuro just looked at the leaf genin in front of him.

"_Foreign ninja in the village? Why are they here? Is it for the chunin exams?"_ thought Sakura.

"You wanna say that again punk?!" growled Kankuro.

"Kankuro!" shouted the blonde haired girl. "Stop before _he_ shows up."

"It'll only take a moment, Temari," replied Kankuro. "Besides, I hate midgets. Especially rude ones…makes me want to kill them." Kankuro reared his fist back for a punch but before he could clock Konohamaru upside the head, it was caught by a hand. Said hand belonged to the very blonde who was just standing on the other end of the alley.

"_I didn't even see him move!"_ thought an astonished Temari. _"H-how could he move so fast?"_

"_Naruto…you shouldn't be showing off like that,"_ sighed Sakura.

After a moment of trying to contemplate just how Naruto moved so fast, Kankuro dropped Konohamaru and prepared to punch Naruto with his now freed hand. However, before he could even bring his arm back, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm as a senbon struck him out of nowhere.

"I don't care if you're here for the chunin exams. You bastards really shouldn't cause any trouble in OUR village," warned Sasuke as he and Haku appeared in a nearby tree.

"_Damn…another guy who just pisses me off. Although that girl is pretty cute,"_ thought Kankuro. The Suna ninja prepared to pull the bandaged bundle off his back, but was stopped as another person announced his presence.

"Kankuro, stop!" demanded the voice and immediately a wave of fear shot through the two Suna ninja. Everyone turned to see a boy, no older than Naruto, with a large gourd on his back and the kanji for 'love' tattooed on his forehead standing on the tree next to Sasuke and Haku. "You're an embarrassment to our village."

"_When did he…"_ thought Team 7 in unison.

"Losing control of yourself like that, how pathetic," said the newest participant.

"G-Gaara. Look, they started it…"

"Shut up, or I'll kill you," threatened Gaara before shunshining next to his comrades. _"To be able to hit Kankuro like that…and to move that quickly…"_

"I'm interested in you," said Gaara. "What are your names?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yuki Haku."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Haruno Sakura."

"I'm also interested in you," grinned Sasuke.

"Sabaku no Gaara," said Gaara. "Are you in the exams?"

Gaara was satisfied with a nod from Sasuke. He turned and walked away with his teammates. This was going to be a most interesting chunin exam.

* * *

_**Jutsu**_

**Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique)

**Suiton: Suiben** (Water-style: Water Whip)

**Futon: Daitoppa** (Wind-stlye: Great Breakthrough)

**Raiton: Jibashi** (Electromagnetic Murder)

**Doton: Doryuheki** (Earth-style wall)

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Well, here's chapter 6. It was, for the most part, a training montage but I wanted to get to the chunin exams. **

**I decided to have Kakashi as a reasonable sensei. Despite being late, he still does teach his team stuff. Also, Kakashi just started them on the very basics of elemental manipulation, not like what Naruto did to make the Rasenshuriken. Kakashi also won't be just handing out jutsus left and right, but he'll teach them enough to get them through. **

**An update on pairings. I will definitely be doing NaruHaku; however, I am still considering the possibility of NaruHakuHina. Naruto's sadly going to remain an oblivious idiot when it comes to girls for some time so he won't be getting together with anyone for awhile (probably not for another 3-4 years in Naruto time). There will also begin a rivalry between the girls for Naruto's attention. Anyways, I'll just let things play out for a bit before making the decision to leave it NaruHaku or add Hinata into the mix.**

**Let me know how it's going. Please Review!**


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